Compared with 2023, the circularity rate increased by 0.1 percentage points (pp), however, it is the highest share on record so far. Compared with 2015, the rate is 1.0 pp higher.

Partnering with digital trade specialist company Ubloquity, the new system sets a new global standard for Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) performance, delivering transparent and granular traceability for Plaswire's RX polymer - a recycled composite material derived from decommissioned wind turbine blades. This marks the world's first application of blockchain to track and verify recycled polymers throughout the entire lifecycle, from blade collection to reuse.

For Germans, Germany's raw material security starts at the recycling center, as the IFAT Circularity Monitor, a representative YouGov survey commissioned by IFAT Munich, shows. 73% of Germans rate the circular economy as important with regard to national (raw material) security, and more than half see it as a pacesetter for new economic growth. At the same time, 83% state that they still feel poorly or only sufficiently informed about this subject.

The sellers of Auris Noble will retain minority ownership positions and continue to lead day-to-day operations.

The Fund supports the implementation of practical and innovative adaptation measures in communities around the world that are especially hard hit by climate change. Germany is the largest donor to this key multilateral financing instrument for climate adaptation measures, and has supported the Adaptation Fund since its inception.

The project will demonstrate the production of high-purity green metal using renewable energy for hydrogen-based reduction and smelting technologies for further downstream steel processing. The project incorporates Metso's Circored fluidized bed direct reduction process and electric DRI Smelting Furnace to support low-emission steelmaking.

The European Union has set itself ambitious goals with the Green Deal: A central instrument for achieving these goals is the EU Taxonomy, a classification system for sustainable economic activities. From 2025, the regulation will apply comprehensively to all companies covered by the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), bringing it even more into the focus of the financial and real economy. However, the implementation is complex. Different methodological approaches, incomplete data and ongoing adjustments due to FAQs and legislative changes make it difficult to report consistently and comparably. At the same time, the central challenge remains: the taxonomy is not only intended to create regulatory transparency, but also to steer capital flows into sustainable activities and thus support the transformation of the economy. Against this background, the current PwC study on the EU Taxonomy 2025 analyzes the reports of financial institutions across Europe and shows key developments, progress and stumbling blocks. It illustrates where regulation is already having an effect and where there is still a need for improvement so that the taxonomy achieves its actual goal.

Although European waste policy has been successful with landfill bans and taxes, it has usually only led to waste being diverted to incineration. This reduces landfill quantities, but not the total amount of residual waste. Therefore, a more effective approach to reducing residual waste is needed. With a view to the planned Circular Economy Act, Zero Waste Europe proposes a cap-and-trade system for residual waste analogous to emissions trading.

The current social and political challenges are shaped by the so-called polycrisis. Therefore, political competence is particularly needed to strengthen social and economic resilience. The Federal Environment Agency's report "Political Competence - Climate Protection in Times of Polycrisis" examines which trends are changing the requirements and possibilities of political competence and how they affect climate protection. The report was prepared as part of the Klimascan project.

Europe's transformation to a green and digital economy depends on a secure and stable supply of raw materials. Secondary raw materials play an important role in this. The Futuram project has investigated the potential of WEEE for this purpose and published initial results in the report "2050 Critical Raw Materials Outlook for Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment in the European Union plus Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and United Kingdom".

Copper is one of the most important industrial metals of our time. It is needed in large quantities worldwide and is indispensable in energy, construction, transportation and high technology due to its unique properties. A complete replacement is hardly possible, which is why demand continues to increase with increasing population and economic growth. At the same time, the challenges are intensifying: production is concentrated in a few countries, ore grades are falling continuously, and thus energy consumption and CO₂ emissions are increasing. In addition, the recycling rates of many countries are well below their potential. Against this background, recycling is becoming increasingly important. It can relieve the geological reserves, reduce energy demand by up to 80 percent and make a significant contribution to reducing emissions. The study "Examining the influence of copper recycling on prospective resource supply and carbon emission reduction" by Chinese scientists investigated how sustainable the copper supply can be by 2100. The focus is on scenarios that capture the resource situation and emissions both globally and regionally. The study was published in "Fundamental Research".

Megacities account for around 13 per cent of the world's waste and are therefore at the centre of environmental, social and economic problems. In view of growing urbanisation and consumer demands, conventional disposal routes such as landfills or incineration will no longer be sufficient in the future. However, the circular economy concept offers a way out. Chemical recycling in particular makes it possible to recycle carbon-containing waste into recyclable materials for the chemical industry. However, in addition to technological and ecological issues, there are also social challenges. The study "Waste-to-Products" for the sustainability transformation of megacities: Case analysis of impacts of public knowledge and perception on chemical recycling deployment in Singapore" conducted by scientists from Germany and Singapore shows that technical, political and social factors must interact to enable the transition from a "waste-to-energy" to a "waste-to-products" strategy.

Urbanisation and population growth are exacerbating the problem of littering worldwide. In addition to affecting the cityscape, littering causes considerable ecological and health risks. In addition, recyclable materials that could be recycled as part of a circular economy are lost, while municipalities are burdened with high cleaning costs. The study "Study of the impact of citizens' perceived behavioural control on waste littering behaviour and the resulting environmental status" by Iranian scientists examined the problem using the example of the city of Behbahan (Iran). The aim is to analyse the tension between attitude, perceived control and behaviour and to derive starting points for measures in the sense of a functioning circular economy. The study was published in "Nature".

Implementing circular principles requires collaboration across company boundaries - especially for SMEs, which often have limited financial and organisational resources to mobilise. A purely company-centric view of circular business models falls short because it ignores the dependencies on partners, infrastructures and regulations. An ecosystem perspective, on the other hand, takes into account roles, relationships, material and data flows as well as governance mechanisms, thus opening up realistic paths to impact and scaling. The study "SMEs in the Circular Economy: Four Ecosystem Strategies for Circular Business Models" conducted by Swedish and Finnish scientists links this perspective to a decision-making grid: if you know your role in the ecosystem and its degree of maturity, you can choose a suitable strategy and implement it consistently. The aim is to make this logic understandable and translate it into action-oriented recommendations for the practice of the circular economy. The study was published in the journal "Organization & Environment".

Population growth, urbanisation and industrialisation have led to a sharp increase in waste volumes worldwide. Conventional systems with collection routes, manual sorting and landfilling are inefficient, cost-intensive and ecologically problematic. What is needed is a shift to more sustainable, technology-based approaches. Digital technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) enable the use of real-time data, intelligent route planning, automated sorting and better traceability. These factors can improve efficiency and resource use and reduce ecological pollution. The study "Revolutionising urban solid waste management with AI and IoT: a review of smart solutions for waste collection, sorting and recycling" by a Saudi Arabian researcher sheds light on the status of such solutions, their potential and limits, as well as framework conditions for sustainable waste management. The study was published in the journal "Results in Engineering".

As the drive to improve recycling efficiency intensifies, more and more attention is being paid to keeping dust within the process flow. And controlling particulates is not only good for workplace health and compliance, it's better for productivity and the bottom line, too.

Since the 1950s, global plastic production has grown rapidly and now reached several billion tonnes overall. The majority of these plastics are still being landfilled, incinerated or released into the environment in an uncontrolled manner after a short period of use, while only a small proportion is recycled. To counteract these developments, the idea of a circular economy for plastics is gaining in importance. In addition to mechanical and chemical processes, biocatalytic approaches are increasingly coming into focus. Enzymes offer the potential to break down certain types of plastic into their monomers under mild conditions, thus creating high-quality recyclates. The public perception of "plasticeating bacteria" illustrates the fascination for this technology, but also carries the risk of inflated expectations. Prof. Wolfgang Zimmermann, professor emeritus at the Institute of Analytical Chemistry at the University of Leipzig, has carried out an analysis in his report "Biocatalytic recycling of plastics: facts and fiction" in order to realistically classify the opportunities and limits of biocatalytic recycling. The report was published in "Chemical Science".

Plastic packaging accounts for almost 40 per cent of global plastic production and, due to its short life cycles, its recycling is considered a key factor for a functioning circular economy. Despite increasing collection volumes, only a small proportion has so far entered the market as high-quality recyclate. In the study "Enhancement in Post-Consumer Mechanical Recycling of Plastics: Role of Design for Recycling, Specifications, and Efficient Sorting of Packaging Material", Austrian scientists examined three key levers for high-quality plastics recycling: Design for Recycling (DfR), binding specifications and efficient sorting technologies. Their interaction determines whether material flows are routed in closed loops or downcycled into inferior applications. The study was published in "Polymers".

Europe's path to sustainability faces a hidden obstacle. The most resource-intensive waste stream doesn't come from plastic or packaging, but from the rubble beneath our feet: construction and demolition waste (CDW) makes up almost half of everything we discard in the EU. Yet, this vast amount of debris is not just waste, it's also Europe's greatest untapped resource and an immense opportunity for innovation and value creation.

Metal recycling is central to the decarbonisation of industry, particularly steel production. As the shift toward electric steel mills continues, scrap is expected to satisfy the majority of raw material demand. In the UK, where all steel production is planned to be based on scrap as of 2025, recycled steel is increasingly regarded as a strategic resource. In this context, political calls for export restrictions are gaining traction. While intended to secure domestic supply, such measures would jeopardise an industry that currently sells 70-80 per cent of its products overseas. The study "Assessing the impact of potential restrictions on UK recycled metals exports - an evidence-based assessment for the British Metals Recycling Association", conducted by Sheffield Hallam University for the British Metals Recycling Association (BMRA), examined the possible consequences of such restrictions. It combines economic modelling with surveys of businesses to illuminate the overall effects on value added and employment, as well as to present the perspectives of the various companies involved. The aim is to provide an evidence-based foundation for discussions about the role of recycling in the transformation of the British steel industry.