Technology

At APK AG in Merseburg, Germany, improving recyclate quality and working to close the loop on plastic products remain at the top of their agenda for 2021.

The new partner of Finnish company Kivisampo Oy is the German company Arjes which has been manufacturing double-shaft shredders in various sizes since 2007.

The first Untha XR mobil-e waste shredder is now in operation in Poland, following an investment by the ever-expanding scrap metal specialist, Polcopper (S4F).

On 2 February 2021, a truck filled with crude oil, which was recovered by chemically recycling reusable materials from Südpack, left the Recenso pilot plant in Germany.

The picturesque south coast of the holiday island of Cyprus in August 2020: 40 °C in the shade and COVID-19 – tourists who would otherwise be enjoying the sea breeze at the height of summer are conspicuously absent and the only full car park is that of the rental cars at the airport.

The RECITURF Project, funded by the Valencian Innovation Agency (AVI), is developing new artificial turf recycling methods so this waste does not end up in landfills. New artificial turf can then be manufactured with the different plastics recovered from waste turf.

Researchers have shown how disposable face masks could be recycled to make roads, in a circular economy solution to pandemic-generated waste.

The ever-increasing amount of plastic, its impact on biodiversity and contribution to climate change, and how to deal with it in a circular economy perspective have been on the European Union’s policy agenda for years.