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Through the joint efforts of recyclers and tyre producers, it had been possible to convince the EU authorities not to ban the use of tyre-derived granules in artificial turf infill pending further research into their environmental and health impact. This represented a major issue given that infill constituted a “very big” application area for end-of-life tyres (ELTs) in Europe, it was explained to the BIR Tyres & Rubber Committee meeting in Berlin by its Chairman, Ruud Burlet of Rubber Resources.

Extracthive, a spin-off from France-based CEA Marcoule labs, aims to leverage the CEA’s expertise in hydrometallurgical processes to design and industrialize new metal extracting and recycling processes, ultimately easing metal sourcing constraints.

Describing India as the world’s fifth-largest producer of e-waste, BIR E-Scrap Committee member Surendra Patawari Borad explained to the body’s latest meeting in Berlin that the government had introduced an extended producer responsibility system for e-waste earlier this year which proposed a 30% collection target for the first two years, rising to 70% after seven years.

Some countries considered used clothing to be a product generated by expert sorting operations according to well-recognised market specifications. However, there is disagreement within EU member states as to whether used clothing/textiles should be considered waste in different circumstances and when such items cease to become waste. In addition, some countries in other parts of the world regard used clothing as a threat to new clothing production, thus giving rise to calls for a ban on used clothing imports.

As discussions on the European circular economy package pick up speed, European Recycling Platform (ERP), a company of the Landbell Group, calls upon the European Parliament and the Member States to concentrate on enforcing EU waste Law in line with EU competition Law.

The Municipal Corporation of India’s Chandigarh has decided to close a garbage processing plant in the city as it calls for a new process for converting the entire waste of the city into energy.

India’s decision to ban plastic scrap imports had left the market “in limbo” and was likely to result in substantial job losses, not least among those of the country’s recycling units which relied on supplies from overseas, according to BIR Plastics Committee Chairman Surendra Patawari Borad of Gemini Corp.

Researchers have developed a technique to recover indium, an important raw material with limited supply, from liquid crystal display (LCD) screens. The method could contribute to a resource-efficient, circular economy.