Michael Brunn

A third-generation family business and Kiverco customer for over 20 years, Binn Group shares a deep commitment to innovation and sustainability. Their trust in Kiverco was reinforced more than a decade ago when a fire at their site damaged the waste plant.

As part of the HYDREAMS project, Swiss Steel Group is taking a crucial step in this direction. The project, funded by the European Union in April 2023, aims to explore how the steel industry can transition from natural gas to clean hydrogen, significantly reducing its carbon footprint. The project focuses on two types of furnaces (reheating and annealing) and two burner types (impulse and flat flame systems) to test hydrogen combustion's efficiency in steel production.

Revomet Bitterfeld GmbH operates one of Europe's most advanced facilities for recycling of battery scrap from the battery industry in Bitterfeld-Wolfen. The partnership's goal is to recover valuable raw materials such as nickel, cobalt and lithium in the highest purity and return them to the production cycle.

This contains significant quantities of valuable metals such as aluminium, copper, brass, and stainless steel. To keep these valuable resources in circulation, MDSU has invested in a state-of-the-art facility with X-ray technology and is now setting new standards.

"We are pleased to announce the sale of our German and Austrian operations," said Tom Slabe, President and CEO of Ecobat. "Upon completion, this transaction - along with the previously announced divestitures of France, Italy, and Battery Distribution - will enable Ecobat to concentrate its efforts on core recycling operations, as well as our global lithium-ion battery business. Ecobat will continue to pursue additional opportunities to maximize value for shareholders beyond these transactions."

At the same time, the EU's GDP increased by 1.2% in the first quarter of 2025, compared with the same quarter of 2024.

Actually, the economy knows only one direction: up. Sustained growth is considered the basis for prosperity. It is also no secret that this is not always good for the environment and also for many people. The concept of sufficiency could help solve some of the current problems. In its report "Crisis-proof, socially and environmentally friendly - impulses for the development of a sufficiency strategy for Germany", the junior research group EnSu makes suggestions on what this could look like in practice.

With the "Action Plan for the European Chemical Industry", the European Commission is now taking on another sector. The aim of the plan is to strengthen the competitiveness and resilience of the chemical industry in the EU.

With steel demand exceeding seven million tonnes per year, the automotive industry is one of the most resource-intensive sectors in the EU. And this demand continues to rise. The environmental impact of steel production could be reduced through the circular use of steel. However, this is only the case if the increased use of recycled steel in vehicle manufacturing does not result in the material being diverted from other sectors or regions. The increased use of recycled steel in automotive production must therefore be accompanied by efforts to improve its overall availability and quality. The International Council on Clean Transportation aims to show how this could be achieved in its report 'Closing the loop: improving automotive steel recycling for a circular economy'.

Steel is considered the most recycled material in the world. However, there is little information about how circular the steel industry actually is. In the study "Global stagnation and regional variations in steel recycling", scientists from Japan, the Netherlands, Austria and Australia have examined the actual state of the industry. The article was published in "Resources, Conservation & Recycling".