Michael Brunn

About 40 percent of the EU's territory is used for agriculture. Agriculture depends on the sustainable use of natural resources. At the same time, it is the cause of environmental and climate pollution. The European Court of Auditors has examined organic farming in the EU - and concludes that policymakers have not created the right framework conditions.

The ECOSWEEE project aimed to test different methods and incentives to increase the collection rate of small electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) and portable batteries in practice. The aim was to identify scalable models that could effectively increase collection rates and address the challenges of current practices. A total of 20 pilot projects were carried out.

The report "The potential of Deposit Refund Systems in closing the plastic beverage bottle loop" assesses the implementation and impact of deposit return systems (DRS) with a focus on plastic beverage bottles. With a focus on Europe, researchers from the UK, Italy and Finland have investigated the multidimensional challenges and opportunities associated with DRS. The report has been published in "Resources, Conservation & Recycling".

The available data reveals significant differences across EU countries. People generated the highest amount of municipal waste per person in Austria (803 kg per person, 2022 data), Denmark (802 kg, 2022 data), and Luxembourg (712 kg). The lowest amount of waste per person was generated in Romania (303 kg, 2022 data), Poland (367 kg) and Estonia (373 kg). 

This tool provides consumers with essential information about the traceability, materials, recycling, and carbon footprint of the products they purchase. Additionally, this solution developed by Aimplas officially demonstrates that plastic products comply with all European regulations.

Conventional recycling methods often result in graphite being burned or lost to waste streams due to the use of strong acids, preventing its efficient recovery. However, Tozero's process achieves more than 80% graphite recovery while preserving its morphological integrity on an industrial scale. This breakthrough enables the material to be refined back to battery-grade quality.

Under the new rules, non-OECD countries must submit a request by 21 February 2025 to be able to continue importing recycled materials classifed as waste from the EU (Annex VIII - WSR). If no request is submitted by that deadline, a blanket ban on EU exports of recycled materials to those nearly 150 countries will take effect by 21 May 2027.

Although a slight drop (1%), the total amount of aluminium recycled from cans continued to increase to a record level of 580,000 tonnes, an increase of 10,000 tonnes (or 1.7%) on the previous year. This represents a total Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions saving of 5.4 million tonnes of CO₂eq)

Today, 98% of Romanians are familiar with the DRS, 90% have returned packaging at least once, and six out of ten actively participate. In its first year of operation, the system collected over 3.5 billion packages.

Contributing matching support towards the project, Pulpex has already made significant strides in the development of its patented technology, which produces degradable bottles made from natural wood fibres. The packaging offers a sustainable alternative to traditional plastic materials and can be recycled in existing paper waste streams.