News archive

Polymer chemists at ETH Zurich have discovered a surprising way to virtually fully break down PMMA plastic – commonly known as Plexiglas – into its monomer building blocks. The process remains unaffected by the presence of additives.

Waste management in remote areas, or where waste generation temporarily increases, makes it difficult to justify large-scale infrastructure development. To address this, the RECLAIM project has developed a low-cost, portable, AI-powered robotic material recovery plant, which will initially be deployed in the Greek Islands.

In 2022, employment in the environmental economy in the EU countries increased on average by 9.5% compared to 2021, measured in full-time equivalents.

The European Commission and the European Environment Agency (EEA) have published the second Zero Pollution Monitoring and Outlook report, which provides an overview of the EU’s work to meet the 2030 zero pollution targets. The Commission has also published its fourth Clean Air Outlook report. The reports show that EU policies have contributed to reducing air pollution, pesticide use and plastic litter at sea. However, pollution levels are still too high, in particular from harmful noise, microplastic releases into the environment, nutrient pollution and waste generation.

Watercycle Technologies has entered into a cooperation agreement with Primobius. As a joint venture, Primobius combines the process capabilities of Neometals Ltd and SMS group’s engineering expertise.

Ahead of the inaugural Strategic Dialogue on Steel and the upcoming Steel and Metals Action Plan, EuRIC, the voice of Europe’s recyclers has published a Circular Economy Action Plan for Recycled Metals to steer discussions on the future of the steel industry through the lens of decarbonisation and circularity.

To neutralise the human impact on the climate, excess CO₂ must be removed from the atmosphere. According to Swiss scientists, excess renewable energy can be used to remove CO₂ from the atmosphere and convert it to methane or methanol, which can then be processed into polymers, hydrogen and solid carbon. At the end of their life cycle, discarded building materials become the ultimate carbon sink. The article “Mining the atmosphere: A concrete solution to global warming” was published in “Resources, Conservation & Recycling”.

On 26 February, the European Commission presented its Clean Industrial Deal. Several associations and organisations have commented on the deal.

Today, the Commission has presented the Clean Industrial Deal, a business plan to support the competitiveness and resilience of our industry. The Deal will accelerate decarbonisation, while securing the future of manufacturing in Europe.

The Croatian plant of EcoCortec, a European subsidiary of Cortec Corporation, has entered a recycling partnership with the Jakob Schober GmbH (Germany) in 2024. This partnership resulted in launching the VpCI-126 HP UV Shrink Film PCR.

Tomra Recycling has further strengthened its wood segment with the appointment of Alexandre Clairembault who has joined the company as Segment Area Manager – Wood.

FEAD and FIR have announced their cooperation to advance circular economy approaches within the mineral waste sector. By working together, the two organisations aim to promote effective management and recycling of mineral waste, ultimately contributing to the European Union’s environmental and waste management goals.