Incorrect waste separation is a major obstacle to high-quality recycling in Europe. With the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation, the EU is striving for uniform symbols for the first time.

According to the study "Transforming textile waste into materials using fungi", textile waste streams could no longer be seen primarily as a disposal problem, but as a raw ma-terial basis for new composites. Researchers at the University of Vienna and the Estonian University of Life Sciences have shown that fungal mycelia can combine used clothing to form resilient laminate structures whose mechanical properties are significantly higher than previous mycelium materials. The study was published in "Resources, Conservation & Recycling".

With the amendment of the Industrial Emissions Directive, landfills are once again moving into the focus of European environmental policy. The current state of the art shows that modern plants are already making an important contribution to climate protection. At the same time, there is still considerable potential, especially in the case of old landfills. The study "State of the art of waste disposal at landfills in Germany and its contribution to cli-mate protection in preparation for the work for a BAT leaflet on landfills" by IFAS and HiiC-CE on behalf of the Federal Environment Agency presents a comprehensive inventory and shows which technical and regulatory developments will shape the industry in the future.

The use of fiber composites is growing rapidly worldwide. However, with increasing production, energy consumption, material losses and waste volumes are also increasing significantly. The study "Mapping the global flow of fiber-reinforced polymer composites and supply chain energy requirements" by American scientists shows in detail how much energy is actually required for the production of composites, where large quantities of production waste are generated along the supply chain, and why recycling has so far only played a minor role. The study was published in "Resources, Conservation & Recycling".

The European composite recycling sector is entering a decisive phase.

The European glass recycling chain is considered one of the most developed material cycles in the pack-aging sector. Container glass can be recycled almost indefinitely in a closed cycle without any significant loss of quality. However, for this to happen, glass fragments must be reliably recognized as glass in the processing plants and not incorrectly discharged as impurities. The "Study on the glass transmittance of opaque glass packaging", which Stazione Sperimentale del Vetro carried out on behalf of FEVE, analyzes the light transmission at which dark, thick-walled glass is no longer reliably identified as glass by optical sorting systems in European glass breakage processing plants.

Tomra Recycling is expanding the field of application of its sensor-based sorting system Autosort Pulse.

Knowledge of cathode chemistry is increasingly decisive for the efficiency of modern recycling processes. The previous practice of processing heterogeneous batteries together leads to com-plex material flows and decreasing metal yields. The study "Identification of waste lithium-ion battery cell chemistry for recycling" by Finnish scientists shows that new diagnostic methods such as incremental capacity analysis can enable non-destructive pre-sorting for the first time. The study was published in "Waste Management".

Comstock Metals has completed the assembly of all precision equipment and process units for its industry-scale solar panel recycling facility in Virginia City, Nevada.

A&A Recycling Services has expanded its waste wood processing capacity at its Meriden Quarry facility in Coventry with the installation of an Ecotec TBG 530T high-speed shredder.