Paper Division: Dramatic Price Falls as Mills Face Soaring Energy Costs

The implications of high energy prices were raised during several sessions at the BIR World Recycling Convention in Dubai but it was during the Paper Division plenary session on 18 October 2022 that the issue dominated proceedings. The tone was set immediately by Division President Francisco Donoso, of Dolaf Servicios Verdes S.L. of Spain in […]

Madagaskar – Enormous Natural Potential vs. Teething Troubles

“There are very few waste treatment facilities, such as incinerators that meet standards or sanitary landfills, and recycling activities are only at the beginning stage,” an inventory report by the Organisation of the United Nations for Industrial Development assessed in 2017. There are some decrees regulating waste management, but “with the exception of a few […]

Middle East “Being Transformed” by Producers’ Sustainability Drive

The increasing trend for primary producers to transition towards secondary metal feedstocks and more sustainable production processes was reinforced at the BIR Non-Ferrous Metals Division meeting in Dubai on 18 October, 2022. Presentations from two leading non-ferrous operators in the United Arab Emirates underlined this switch towards scrap, renewable energy sources, and customers increasingly prepared […]

The EU Should Reaffirm the Role of Waste-to-Energy in the Circular Economy

ESWET welcomes the European Commission’s 2023 Work Programme and the renewal of the Green Deal’s ambitions. The current energy crisis has brought to light the necessity and the urgency of accelerating the energy transition. This requires maximising the use of all clean sources of energy, including the affordable and efficient electricity and heat supplied by […]

Circular Plastic Recycling: VTT Spins out Olefy

In August, the Technical Research Centre of Finland (VTT) has announced its plan to spin out a new company – Olefy Technologies. According to the information, Olefy’s patent-pending technology can extract over 70 percent virgin grade plastics and chemical raw materials components from plastic waste. “The new process can be done in a single step, […]

Stainless Steel & Special Alloys Committee: New Applications Offer Promise of Bright Stainless Steel Future

Tackling excessive water leakage rates in major cities has been advocated as a way of boosting the stainless steel industry and offering fresh market opportunities for scrap recyclers and traders. The challenge of losing huge volumes of such a vital resource as water was set out at the BIR Stainless Steel and Special Alloys Committee […]

Offtake Agreement for Recycled Styrene Monomer

Indaver and Ineos Styrolution have signed an offtake agreement. This agreement closes the loop towards a circular economy for polystyrene, Ineos Styrolution, an international leading firm in styrenics, emphasized. It would enable the company to produce polystyrene from recycled feedstock replacing styrene monomer made from fossil feedstock. For that purpose, Indaver (a leading player in […]

Ferrous Division: Shifting Markets for Scrap as Traders Look East

Ferrous markets have seen a remarkable turnaround in fortunes in the past year with EU steel production declining; Turkish production and steel scrap imports also down; and a contrasting growth in Indian scrap buying, BIR’s Ferrous Division was told in Dubai on October 17, 2022. In a presentation entitled “Steel scrap markets in 2022: Turkish […]

Ferrous Division: “World Steel Recycling in Figures” – Latest Update of the 13th Edition

During the recent meeting of the BIR Ferrous Division on 17 October 2022 in Dubai, Rolf Willeke, BIR Ferrous Statistics Advisor, outlined the key findings in the January-June 2022 update of the 13th edition of “World Steel Recycling in Figures”. Global crude steel production totalled 949.4 million tonnes in January-June 2022 for a decline of […]

Finland: Pilot Line for Post-Consumer Textile Recycling

In July this year, Lounais-Suomen Jätehuolto (LSJH) in Paimio, has successfully started up a new Andritz pilot line for research and development work on post-consumer textile recycling. The Exel tearing machine for post-consumer textile waste can process up to 500 kilograms per hour for spinning quality and up to one ton per hour for nonwoven […]

Liebherr Presents New Material Handlers

At this year’s Bauma exhibition (October 24 – 30, 2022; Trade Fair Center Messe München), Liebherr will present material handlers for diverse applications. With the LH 22 M Industry Litronic Liebherr – one of the largest construction machine manufacturers in the world – presents a material handler for efficient use in tree care and the […]

Recycleye Founders Win “Young Inventors Prize”

In June this year, the European Patent Office (EPO) honored Belgian entrepreneur Victor Dewulf (25) and British computer scientist Peter Hedley (27) with joint first place in the inaugural Young Inventors prize. The two entrepreneurs – CEO Victor Dewulf and CTO Peter Hedley of the company Recycleye – have developed an intelligent recognition and sorting […]

Enviro Intends to Realize Tire Recycling Facility in Uddevalla

Sweden-based company Scandinavian Enviro Systems has been granted an environmental permit for the planned recycling plant in Uddevalla (province Västra Götalands Län). As the company previously has announced, the application pertained to the establishment of a recycling plant on an industrial site in the Lillesjö district of Uddevalla Municipality. The facility would have the capacity […]

New Sorting System: Würzburger Recycling GmbH (WRG) Kicks Off!

The challenge: design and install a new commercial waste sorting plant in a relatively small space in an existing hall. The result: Europress Umwelttechnik accepted the challenge and successfully implemented the system within a short time! “The development of the recommended solution, the project planning as well as the subsequent realization as a general contractor […]

SMS Group Recorded High Level of Order Intake

With an 86 percent increase, Germany-based SMS group almost doubled its order intake to reach 3,507 million Euro in the 2021 financial year, recording the highest level in ten years. According to the company, the reasons for this substantial rise are catch-up effects in the wake of the previous year’s slump triggered by the Covid-19 […]