Technology

The growing volume of packaging waste has evolved into a significant global issue, with estimates showing that up to 91% of this material ends up in landfill or incinerators. This leads to underutilised resources and increased CO2 emissions. A portion of the remaining waste contaminates the environment, contributing to plastic pollution, the degradation of ecosystems, and even entering the food chain in the form of microplastics.

The Danish company Dansk Emballage, located in Vamdrup, specializes in the collection and reprocessing of Intermediate Bulk Containers (IBC). The containers are sorted, washed, and recycled on-site. A significant role in this process is played by a Weima W5.18 single-shaft shredder.

Erema is expanding the portfolio of its ReadyMac plastics recycling system by introducing the new ReadyMac 500 “Heavy Duty” version. Due to the integration of the Erema Laserfilter, this recycling machine is now also suitable for processing demanding post-consumer materials.

With the compact C 14 shredding attachment, Eggersmann presents a new shredding solution for volume optimisation.

In Zolling, Germany, a newly commissioned CDE wash plant is supporting J. Obermeier to process up to 150 tonnes per hour (tph) of quarried sand and gravel while facilitating the transition away from virgin materials as the second-generation family business sets out plans to give waste materials a second life.

Japanese metal recycler Matec has recently commissioned one of the world’s most advanced processing plants for shredder residue from end-of-life vehicles (ASR) in Tomakomai, near Sapporo. This plant is the largest of its kind in the country, with an annual throughput of 30,000 tonnes. Matec relies on sorting technologies from Steinert to efficiently separate different material streams.

At Reiling in Denmark, the Steinert MSort sorting systems (formerly Mogensen) have been in 24/7 operation for over 16 years. Since the takeover of the MSort sorting systems by Steinert GmbH in July 2024, a new start has been made in terms of development, and Reiling is looking forward to the upcoming collaboration with new impetus. Steinert spoke to Benedikt Heitmann, Managing Director at Reiling Glas Recycling GmbH & Co. KG, about what the sorting systems can do to comply with the strict limits in glass recycling.

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.

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”.

World PET Recycling, part of the Logoplaste Group, is a recycler of PET from Portugal. Annually, World PET produces around 12,000 tons of food-grade recycled PET (rPET).

Thyssenkrupp Steel Europe (tkSE) has put a new annealing and isolating line in Bochum into service. The electrical steel strip processing line, supplied by SMS group, enables tkSE to produce high-grade NGO steel (non-grain-oriented electrical steel strip).