Market

BIR has made “impressive and encouraging” progress across finance, membership, advocacy, communications and global engagement since its previous gathering in Singapore last October, President Susie Burrage OBE informed the world recycling association’s latest Convention, staged for the first time ever in the Spanish city of Valencia.

Protecting workers should be the top priority for any employer, especially those on the front line of materials processing. Beyond the substantial financial consequences of a workplace injury or fatality, the impacts are felt profoundly by an employee’s family, their coworkers, and the wider community.

Fujifilm has announced the introduction of an electric boiler system at the facilities of Fujifilm Manufacturing Europe B.V in the Netherlands, which primarily engages in the production of photographic materials and cell culture media. Installing the electric boiler system and establishing a hybrid system in combination with a natural gas boiler significantly contribute to reducing CO2 emissions (Scope 1) generated from fuel that are technically challenging to decarbonize.

In the fourth quarter of 2024, the EU economy greenhouse gas emissions were estimated at 897 million tonnes of CO2-equivalents (CO2-eq), a 2.2% increase compared with the same quarter of 2023 (878 million tonnes of CO2-eq). The EU’s gross domestic product (GDP) registered a 1.5% increase in the fourth quarter of 2024, compared with the same quarter of 2023.

World crude steel production for the 69 countries reporting to the World Steel Association (Worldsteel) was 155.7 million tonnes (Mt) in April 2025, a 0.3% decrease compared to April 2024.

Only 6.9% of the 106 billion tonnes of materials used annually by the global economy come from recycled sources—a 2.2 percentage point drop since 2015, according to a new report released by Circle Economy in collaboration with Deloitte Global.

The Bureau of International Recycling has announced the arrival of a new member of staff, Ms Bianca Mannini, who joined the BIR Advocacy team on Tuesday, 6 May 2025.

The European Union imported phosphorus fertiliser and phosphate worth close to 1 billion euros from Russia in 2024, making up 25 percent of total imports, an analysis by environmental company Ragn-Sells has found.

A new report from Zero Waste Europe highlights the shift underway in local waste management, showing that municipalities globally are increasingly prioritising prevention, reuse, and repair over recycling.

FEAD has brought together a group of experts coming from the mattresses value chain to visit the RetourMatras plant in the Netherlands, to start laying the foundations of a Circular Value Chain Partnership.

In 2024, exports of recyclable raw materials, which include recyclable waste and scrap as well as other secondary raw materials (by-products), from the EU to non-EU countries amounted to 35.7 million tonnes, an 8.2% decrease compared with the previous year. 2023 was a record year for exports of recyclable raw materials, as volumes reached 38.9 million tonnes, the highest in 2 decades.