Michael Brunn

At the same time, the construction sector is increasing its use of recycled materials. Regulatory pressure and sustainability targets are accelerating this shift at national level.

Eggersmann presents the BACKHUS Alpha 55, a fully automated and electric windrow turner for composting, waste treatment and material handling.

Bollegraaf launches Bollegraaf ONE, a digital platform for monitoring, managing and optimising recycling plants with data-based operational support.

The presentation marks the first public showing of the battery electric power unit in this application. Caterpillar developed the system to help original equipment manufacturers electrify existing machine platforms with less redesign work.

The Circularity Gap Report 2026: The Value Gap makes a useful shift. It asks what the cost of linearity is to the economy.

The circular model is based on packaging designed for at least 40 uses and is expected to reduce the environmental impact of single-use plastics by up to 95%.

No one has been talking about Germany as a recycling world champion for a long time. But the question still arises as to where Germany is positioned in the circular economy in an international comparison. On the basis of patent applications, Prognos tried to answer this question on behalf of the Bertelsmann Stiftung with the study "Innovation Analysis of the Circular Economy".

Actually, everyone can agree on a circular economy, but it still doesn't really want to work. Yannik Gehlen from TU Darmstadt argues in his essay "Between System Change and Self-Deception: Four Theses on the Ambivalence of the Circular Economy" that a "cultural change of perspective" is the basis for the success of the circular economy.

The expansion of electromobility shifts industrial value creation towards batteries and critical raw materials such as lithium, nickel, cobalt and graphite, which are becoming strategic resources. Electric vehicles require significantly more mineral raw materials than combustion engines, which increases cost risks as well as environmental and social challenges in global supply chains. As a result, the previously linear battery value chain is reaching its limits. Recycling is an important solution component, but cannot cover the increasing demand for materials in the short term alone. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation's report "Leading the charge: Turning risk into reward with a circular economy for EV batteries and critical materials" shows that a systemic approach is needed that combines recycling with battery design, use, secondary use and new business models.

Biogenic waste and residues are becoming increasingly important in the course of the transformation towards a climate-neutral circular economy. The report "Recycling of Biogenic Waste and Residues - Carbon Source, Bioenergy & Negative Emissions" by the German Biomass Research Center examines current developments, technological approaches and political framework conditions along the material and energetic recycling of biogenic residues and shows what role waste and recycling management will play in defossilization, resource efficiency and a circular bioeconomy in the future. The report was published in "Austrian Water and Waste Management".