The North Bohemian family business, which has been operating on the Czech market for 32 years, will become a part of the Cronimet Group. At the same time, a long-term succession plan has been found with the takeover.

MetallPlast Recykling, founded in 1992 by Milan Ryšavý, has made a name for itself with its expertise in the areas of ferrous scrap, stainless steel & foundry scrap and non-ferrous metal. The geographical location of MetallPlast Recykling’s seven sites, which have their fleet of vehicles for disposal services, is a valuable addition to the Cronimet Group’s network of sites and product portfolio.

Cronimet is taking on the 48 employees, who will continue to make important contributions to the company’s success with their expertise. Lucie Milatová, who has been the successful Managing Director of Cronimet Ostrava for many years, will be responsible for managing the business at MetallPlast Recykling together with the previous owner Milan Ryšavý.

Existing and future customers will benefit not only from the synergies between the two companies in terms of technical and regional expertise in the field of Sesotec’s own systems for foreign body detection and material sorting, but in particular from the shared experience and philosophy of maximum customer satisfaction and the best service within the food, plastics and recycling industries.

“Our shared values, which have grown from our long history together, were the basis on both sides for this official step and our commitment to each other,” explains Joachim Schulz, CEO of Sesotec GmbH. “Being a reliable partner has always been an important principle for Sesotec. The long-standing cooperation with Mobergs is an outstanding example of such a partnership in action. We are therefore very pleased to start an even closer cooperation with Fredrik Moberg and his team and to welcome them as a permanent member of the Sesotec Group. This commitment to Sesotec makes us and our employees very proud.”

Fredrik Moberg, founder and original owner of Mobergs Produktkontroll AB, will continue to play a leading role in the regional development of the company as Managing Director and will lead the experienced team into a strategically secure future in the Scandinavian and in the future also in the Baltic countries.

Mobergs Produktkontroll AB will operate under its established name with the addition of “Member of Sesotec Group”. Sesotec’s own product range extends from contaminant detectors for the food and plastics industries to sorting systems for the recycling industry and comprehensive service offerings and software solutions. Mobergs’ existing partnerships with other brands will remain unchanged. Customers can continue to rely on receiving products and services of the usual high quality.

Headquartered on Norway’s west coast, Geminor operates across nine countries as a key player in material and energy recovery throughout Europe. The acquisition of Rømskog Industrial Park, situated just an hour from Oslo, marks Geminor’s fifth strategic integration, following successful acquisitions of Bergen Avfall, Rekom, Bøn Biobrensel, and KEMÅ Fast.

Spanning 100,000 square meters, Rømskog Industrial Park becomes the largest facility in Geminor’s growing portfolio. The site will primarily serve as a logistics hub for the company’s biofuel operations within Bøn Biobrensel, focusing on storage and processing.

This acquisition is set to invigorate the local economy by creating new employment opportunities in the Rømskog area.

Kjetil Vikingstad, CEO of Geminor, states: “The industrial park has long aimed to foster local activity and job creation. This acquisition aligns perfectly with that vision. Rømskog’s proximity to local timber and forest residues makes it ideal for our biofuel operations. Moreover, the region’s skilled forestry workforce presents an excellent talent pool for our future growth.”

The addition of Rømskog expands Geminor’s network of strategically positioned facilities across Europe, enabling the company to manage a diverse range of waste fractions and biofuels tailored to varying market demands.

While biofuel operations will be the primary focus, the site’s expansive area offers the potential to support other aspects of Geminor’s operations as needed.

The line will recycle end-of-life fiberboards back into valuable fibers as new raw material for fiberboard production. It will be the first industrial-scale fiberboard recycling line in the world.

The dry fiberboard recycling line is based on continuous steam treatment with a special discharging system using the Andritz Steam-Ex discharger, which minimizes steam consumption and maintenance requirements. This allows continuous processing of fiberboard material with very low steam consumption and high runnability.

Start-up of the fiberboard recycling line is scheduled for the second quarter of 2025.

This is an outstanding amount of waste produced, particularly with Plastics Europe finding that the annual waste production equates to almost 8.9 million tonnes.

With this significant amount having a huge impact on the environment, a high priority for the sector is managing the waste and reducing the annual levels created. Scott Hawthorne from Skips & Bins, a leading provider of skip hire in the UK, has offered some industry-level insight into how the industry is working to mitigate waste production.

Reduction of single-use plastic

Plastic has become the most common man-made material produced, accounting for more than 380 million tonnes globally per year. Despite these huge amounts, a study from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and the World Economic Forum found that only 14% of all plastic packaging is collected for recycling.

This can be difficult for manufacturers as it filters throughout the supply chain, but there is plenty that can be done to better your own company’s standing. One way to do this is to reevaluate your packaging use. You may discover that you can reuse clean packaging materials, use recycled and recyclable materials, or even reduce the amount of packaging required to reduce waste.

As increased focus is placed on finding alternatives to single-use plastics, many manufacturers are now designing products with their entire lifecycle in mind. This involves considering the ease of disassembly, the recyclability of materials, and the potential for components to be reused. For instance, companies in the electronics industry are developing modular products that can be easily upgraded or repaired, thereby extending their lifespan and reducing the volume of electronic waste.

The food waste crisis

While manufacturing as a sector is most closely associated with materials such as plastic, scrap metal, plaster, and chemicals, it’s estimated that more than two-thirds of manufacturing waste comes from biological sources. One of these is food waste, with the UK being one of the largest offenders, with more than 6.4 million tonnes of edible food being thrown away annually.

Finding solutions for manufacturers to reduce food waste is crucial to reducing the amount of waste. One method that’s been researched and confirmed for its viability is anaerobic digestion, which involves collecting and transferring the waste into a tank deprived of oxygen, breaking it down with microorganisms. Biogas is produced and can be converted into electricity generation. With 1.3 million tonnes of food waste broken down annually, it’s capable of powering 200,000 homes throughout the UK.

By prioritising sending food waste to digestion plants and working to create a more circular economy within the supply chain, it can not only reduce physical waste but also help to reduce the industry’s greenhouse gas emissions, protect the environment’s biodiversity, and require much less energy for production.

The dangers of handling and disposing of hazardous waste

The manufacturing industry works with many other sectors, meaning that some of the waste produced can be classified as hazardous. Whether waste is hazardous or non-hazardous is covered by the European Sustainability Reporting Standard, but often refers to materials that are a threat to the health of humans and the environment.

Scott Hawthorne stressed the importance of hazardous waste as an area that manufacturing must focus efforts to improve: “Within the manufacturing industry, you’re working with a multitude of sectors that can range from expired medication and needles from the medical sector to industrial solvents and asbestos. Not only can these contribute significantly to landfills, but the damage they can do to the human body and the environment should be a reason enough for the sector to keep on top of the waste produced.

“Prioritising the safe handling and disposal of this waste will be a huge factor in the future of the sector and something that will constantly develop. This could be through emerging tech that helps to identify materials that are dangerous to human and environmental health, or auditing the sectors your business works with to mitigate the amount of harmful materials produced.”

The manufacturing sector is undergoing a significant transformation as it tackles the challenge of waste. Regulatory and consumer pressures further reinforce the importance of these efforts, making waste reduction not just an environmental imperative but a business necessity. As these trends continue to evolve, the manufacturing industry has the potential to become a leader in sustainability, setting an example for other sectors to follow.

More information

Effective recycling of these used solvents, waste paint thinners and solvent-based paint, will create new products as an alternative to virgin solvents so that they can be used again in industries including pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, paint, agrochemicals, and cement manufacture.

As part of Veolia’s new strategic plan GreenUP, this solvent recovery process will also save an estimated 172,000 tonnes CO2e in greenhouse gas emissions each year, compared to virgin resources, equivalent to taking 78,000 diesel cars off the road annually.

Waste materials are processed at the site to regenerate them into high quality recycled products that can be reused, displacing virgin materials in the supply chain. The facility uses various distillation technologies to separate residues from the wastes, and then to further separate solvent mixtures into products suitable for industrial customers.

As well as generating products, the plant also produces several types of fuel. A distilled product fuel is used instead of natural gas to power the site’s steam boilers, reducing the energy required from gas by 10,000 MWh per year , equivalent to the gas usage of 1,000 homes per year. Other by-products from the process are sent to Veolia facilities to be manufactured into alternative fuels for use in the cement industry, helping to decarbonize this industry and reduce the reliance on fossil fuels.

The increased processing capacity has been achieved by installing new distillation columns to separate liquids, and 17 tanks to store or transfer the solvents. Transport is handled through two new high throughput tanker loading bays which manage logistics for offloading waste for processing, and load the recycled solvents ready for customer delivery.

Changes in the material properties, such as residual moisture, grain shape or conductivity, can be counteracted with this automatic control technology. Splitcontrol ensures consistently high-yield rates and high operational stability. Manual interventions to correct the separating splitter can be reduced to a minimum.

Steinert Splitcontrol can be incorporated as an additional option when configuring a new Steinert non-ferrous metals separator. Retrofits are possible as well.

A laser grid is used to monitor the variance of sorted product in the eddy current separator’s discharge zone. The different discharge parabolas of the conductive NF metals and the unaffected non-conductive residue (drop) are assigned via software. By automatically controlling the belt speed, the discharge parabola of the drop proportion is always led close to the separating splitter, meaning that the sorter can always be run to deliver optimum separation.

Splitcontrol kits can be installed in a matter of hours. They are fitted on the outside of the sorting system and usually require minimal modifications to the outer shell.

These updates follow intensive testing commissioned earlier this year with a focus on a comprehensive alignment of the Guidelines’ structure. The review included a restructuring of the decoration sections, in particular, to clarify the impact of inks and labels on recycling.

‘Considering the recent legislative developments at the European level, RecyClass is more committed than ever to provide the industry with the most up-to-date recommendations for improving circularity of plastic packaging,’ said Paolo Glerean, Chairman of RecyClass.

As a result of the collaboration with independent testing facilities, RecyClass further investigated the behaviour of common packaging technologies during recycling processes. These tests were conducted according to standardised testing methods, as described in the RecyClass Recyclability Evaluation Protocols.

Notable additions to the Guidelines include a more precise definition of adhesives for labels on HDPE, PP and PS rigids and updated recommendations for PO foamed liners for HDPE. A technical review of HDPE tube size sorting will also be available following the results shared by STINA.

For PE Films, EVOH/metallisation and laminating adhesive combination can now be directly certified without testing, provided they follow the Guidelines’ recommendations. Additionally, PP-based plastomers are now recognised as fully compatible with the PE stream if they represent up to 15 % of the total weight of the packaging. When it comes to PET bottles, the design for recycling recommendations have been refined with a better definition for clear, light blue and coloured transparent PET bottles, together with additional guidance on PET closures.

The latest design recommendations have been integrated into the RecyClass Online Tool and the RecyClass Recyclability Certification Schemes. Looking ahead, ongoing testing campaigns will soon be concluded and further enhance the RecyClass Design for Recycling Guidelines on TPS, adhesives, inks and PVOH, among others.

Of this, 19.9 million tons were blast furnace slag (BFS) and 15.9 million tons were steelwork slag (SWS). Thanks to an additional 0.6 million tons of stockpile reduction, a total of 20.5 million tons of BFS and 13.3 million tonnes of SWS were used primarily as building materials and fertilizers as well as in metallurgy. As a result, the by-products of the steel industry avoided the extraction of 44 million tons of natural rock across Europe last year and the emission of around 12 million tons of CO2 using granulated blast furnace slag instead of Portland cement clinker in cement. In the period from 2000 to 2023, a total of 1.17 billion tons of natural rock and 416 million tons of the climate-damaging gas were saved.

99 percent of blast furnace slag was used as a building material: 18.3 million tons in cement and 2 million tons as aggregate. 0.2 million tons went into other applications. In the case of steelwork slag, 8.8 million tons were used in road construction, 0.7 million tons in hydraulic engineering, 1.3 million tons in fertilizers, 1.7 million tons for metallurgical work, 0.6 million tons in cement and as a concrete additive and 0.2 million tons for other applications.

The conservation of natural raw materials using ferrous slags between 2000 and 2023 is made up of the substitution of a total of 752 million tons of limestone, clay and sand for clinker production with granulated blast furnace slag in cement, 405 million tons of natural stone with slag-based aggregates in concrete and road construction and 12 million tons of natural lime fertilizer with converter and ladle slag in fertilizers.

Thomas Reiche, Chairman of EUROSLAG and Managing Director of FEhS Building Materials Institute: “Despite the tensions on the European steel market, ferrous slags were once again able to make an important contribution to resource conservation, climate protection and the circular economy in 2023. We are continuing to look ahead and will be taking an in-depth look at current topics at this year’s EUROSLAG conference in Bilbao under the title “Slags for the Future, the Future of the Slags”. This includes the decarbonization of the steel industry and the corresponding ‘new’ slags as well as the resulting necessary adjustments to national and European regulations.”

The long-term upward trend resumed after the exceptional years of 2020 and 2021 (COVID-19). However, 2022 remains notable due to the situation in the energy markets. The decline in total environmental tax revenues from 2021 to 2022 was primarily due to a decrease (-€15.1 billion) in energy tax revenues, which totalled €243 billion in 2022.

On the other hand, pollution and resource taxes increased by 10% (+€1.2 billion) and transport taxes registered a small uptake of 1% (+€809 million).

At EU level in 2022, corporations generated most environmental tax revenues, accounting for 52% of the total. Most of this corporate contribution came from companies in manufacturing, construction, mining, and utilities (26%) and the services sector (24%). Households contributed with 45% of the total environmental tax revenues.

In 17 EU countries, households paid more than 40% of the total environmental tax revenues, varying between 60% in Denmark and nearly 40% in Malta.

At the national level, corporations contributed on average with more than 50% of the total tax revenues in most EU countries. Only in a few countries did non-residents significantly contribute to the environmental tax revenues, with the highest share in Luxembourg (46%).

Emmanuel Katrakis is Director of Public and Regulatory Affairs at longstanding BIR member company Galloo Group.

He is a well-known figure within BIR and the international recycling community, having previously served as Secretary General of EuRIC, which he joined at its inception in 2014. He significantly developed EuRIC into the definitive voice of the European recycling industry, bridging the industry with European institutions. With over 15 years of experience in Brussels, Emmanuel has extensive expertise in recycling, advocacy, and association management. He is a frequent speaker at international recycling conferences and a member of several expert groups supporting the transition to a circular economy. Emmanuel holds degrees in European law and international relations.

“I am very happy that Emmanuel has accepted my invitation to chair one of BIR’s most important cross-commodity committees, our International Trade Council,” comments BIR President Susie Burrage. “Thanks to his leadership skill and his deep understanding of the industry, the ITC will certainly gain momentum and widen its important contributions to our membership.” BIR Director General Arnaud Brunet adds: “International trade is the very foundation of our industry and therefore we must place the utmost emphasis on defending our right to freely ship our products wherever they are needed. The ITC plays a crucial role in this mission, and Emmanuel has the necessary expertise for this important position.”

Emmanuel is very enthusiastic about his new role within BIR. “I am excited to be given the opportunity to actively contribute to the programmes and missions of our global recycling organisation, which in light of current international trade and legislation challenges holds an ever-increasing importance for ensuring the free trade of our recycled materials,” he says. “I wholeheartedly thank Susie for the trust she is placing in me and look forward to working closely with her and the BIR leadership.”

Susie joins Emmanuel in thanking outgoing ITC Chairman Michael Lion for his sterling job and his outstanding service to the industry over several decades, for which he was awarded an honorary BIR membership.

The opening ceremony of the new Vaersa light packaging plant designed and built by Stadler in Alzira – a benchmark in the Spanish waste management sector – took place on the 3rd of July, in the presence of the leading local government representatives with environmental responsibilities Salomé Pradas, Councillor of Environment, Water, Infrastructure and Territory, Francisco Javier Sendra, Regional Secretary of Environment and Territory and Jorge Blanco, Director General of Quality and Environmental Education. Also in attendance were representatives of top management from Vaersa José Alberto Comos, General Manager and Raúl Esteban, Deputy Manager, as well as Ismael Avilés Ortega, Operations Manager Spain at Stadler, Vicent Estruch, President of the V4 Ribera-Valdigna Consortium and Alfons Dominguez, Mayor of Alzira.

Noelia Almiñana Lledó, Head of Vaersa’s Waste Department, opened the proceedings by recalling the beginnings of the Alzira site with a manual sorting plant back in 2000. She highlighted the progress achieved through Stadler’s automation of the process and emphasized that the plant will ensure the correct recovery of light packaging from now on. José David Castillo Cáceres, Alzira Light Packaging Sorting Plant Manager, took over with a presentation of the new plant. A video of the construction project and the sorting line in operation closed the event.

Vaersa is a public enterprise reporting to the Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, Ecological Transition, and Climate Emergency of the Generalitat Valenciana (government of the Valencian Autonomous Community). It provides services related to environmental management, including waste management, aimed at achieving a circular economy. It began managing the light packaging sorting infrastructure for the Valencian Community in 2000, coinciding with the implementation of separate waste collection. The facilities include the light packaging plant in Alzira, the oldest of the four it operates.

In 2023, Vaersa decided to invest in upgrading and expanding the capacity of the Alzira plant to address the increasing volumes of light packaging waste and to improve the quality of the output for recycling. As a public enterprise, it issued a call for tenders to award the project under the Public Sector Contracts Law. The tender criteria included designing the sorting line to prioritise maximising recovery, facilitate operation and ease of movement within the facility, and enhance operating efficiency through the placement of every piece of equipment and their implementation. Ergonomics and safety of plant personnel in all aspects of operation, from sorting tasks and quality control to cleaning, operation and maintenance were key for the project. The tender criteria also required to include an analysis of preventive and corrective maintenance, and measures to ensure the processing line’s modularity and flexibility.

Stadler presented a highly detailed preliminary project, which was the highest rated by the contracting committee, and was awarded the contract. Noelia Almiñana Lledó explains: “The Alzira Packaging Sorting Plant was the oldest of the Vaersa Plants and therefore the least automated. Our foremost and greatest challenge was to implement an automated processing line that would double the existing plant’s capacity in the same space. Stadler designed a compact process line that fits the available space, incorporating the most modern sorting technology without compromising its operation, performance, and efficiency.”

The new plant increases the facility’s capacity from 3 t/h to 8 t/h, making it one of the largest sorting plants in Spain by capacity. Installation in the same building as its predecessor introduced significant space constraints, which Stadler’s design successfully addressed: “One of the main challenges was that we were replacing an existing plant,” explains Ismael Avilés Ortega, Operations Manager Spain at Stadler. “This required a meticulously studied design to fit within the existing building, making the preparatory work of our engineers crucial.”

Stadler’s design for the new plant automates the sorting process with two sorting cabins, two Stadler STT2000 ballistic separators that separate the flexible and 3D materials, magnetic, and eddy current separators that sort metals into ferrous and non-ferrous, and optical sorters that recover recycling materials. The output is sorted into PET, HDPE, film, Tetra-Pak, plastic mix, and ferrous and non-ferrous metals. At the end of the process, the recovered materials are baled and sent for recycling. The new plant design also enhances the efficiency of the sorting process and improves the quality of the output fractions, supporting Vaersa’s commitment to advancing towards a circular economy.

Stadler’s design stands out for the flexibility and modularity of the processing line. This means that Vaersa can rely on uninterrupted operation: “Bypass systems have been designed to ensure continuous treatment in the event of critical equipment shutdowns,” comments Jose David Castillo Cáceres. “We also appreciate the standardization of mechanical and electrical equipment and components, which helps optimize the management of spare parts.”

Stadler’s solution future-proofs the Alzira sorting plant. Its flexibility allows for further expansion in the plant’s capacity to absorb the expected increase in incoming waste resulting from growing public awareness and commitment to separation at source. In addition, it addresses possible changes in the incoming waste due to “its ability to adapt to potential changes in the characteristics and composition of the input materials. To this end, Stadler has allocated space reserves that will allow for the future installation of new equipment for possible process adaptations,” explains Jose David Castillo Cáceres.

The company is based in Holsted, Denmark, employs more than 160 people and provides aftermarket services and maintenance for waste- and biomass-to-energy plants.

In July 2024, the legal entities that formerly operated as BWRS will assume Hitachi Zosen Inova regional designations, with the Danish operations becoming Hitachi Zosen Inova Denmark A/S.

HZI’s new team has a strong presence in the Nordics. This region boasts a high density of waste-to-energy and biogas plants and therefore presents good growth prospects in plant life cycle solutions, service, and retrofits. It also complements the geographical footprint and technological capabilities of HZI’s Service.

With three offices in Denmark and additional presence across Europe, the new team will be integrated into HZI’s Systems & Service Solutions business unit, bringing further expertise and capacity to the group as well as a strong order pipeline.

The acquisition brings HZI’s Systems & Service Solutions business unit to more than 900 people in 13 countries around the world.

Crude steel production by region

Africa produced 1.8 Mt in May 2024, up 0.9% on May 2023. Asia and Oceania produced 122.1 Mt, up 1.6%. The EU (27) produced 11.7 Mt, up 1.8%. Europe, Other produced 3.9 Mt, up 6.2%. The Middle East produced 5.2 Mt, up 4.6%. North America produced 9.4 Mt, down 0.9%. Russia & other CIS + Ukraine produced 7.7 Mt, up 2.8%. South America produced 3.3 Mt, down 8.2%.

Top 10 steel-producing countries

China produced 92.9 Mt in May 2024, up 2.7% on May 2023. India produced 12.2 Mt, up 3.5%. Japan produced 7.2 Mt, down 6.3%. The United States produced 6.9 Mt, down 1.5%. Russia is estimated to have produced 6.3 Mt, down 0.9%. South Korea produced 5.2 Mt, down 10.9%. Germany produced 3.2 Mt, down 1.9%. Türkiye produced 3.2 Mt, up 11.6%. Iran produced 3.3 Mt, up 2.1%. Brazil is estimated to have produced 2.6 Mt, down 7.4%.

The first tests, which started as a pilot project this spring, have until now been carried out on Solid Recovered Fuel (SRF) transported on trucks from Poland. The primary challenge addressed by these tests is the variation in calorific value due to, among other things, fluctuating moisture levels in waste. The initiative also aims to improve the control of other critical alternative fuel parameters, such as chlorine or sulphur.

An increase in moisture content has a direct impact on the calorific value of SRF, explains Wojciech Oset, Account and TFS Manager at Geminor Poland.

“We have encountered variability in the quality of waste from producers over time, which makes random quality checks a necessity. By performing these tests, we aim to assure both sides of the value chain – the waste producers and the off-takers – that the waste-derived fuels meet rigorous and expected standards,” says Oset.

The pilot project is conducted in cooperation with an accredited Polish laboratory adhering to international standards. The sample of material is collected by laboratory staff directly from the truck after it has left the producer’s facility. If the SRF is transported in baled form, a probe specially made for this project is used for sampling. The results of the analysis are presented within two weeks from the time of testing.

“By implementing these quality control measures, we can monitor the waste shipments over time, and thereby contribute to enhancing the overall quality of the waste we deliver,” states Wojciech Oset.

“This initiative aligns with our broader objective of improving the quality of delivered fuels in Europe. If this testing brings desired results, we have the option of expanding these tests to other Geminor markets, and for other waste fractions,” concludes Wojciech Oset, Account and TFS Manager at Geminor Poland.

Sennebogen LLC was founded in America in 2000, initially in modest rented premises. Nine years later, thanks to dynamic growth, the company was able to move into its own location with offices, training rooms and a large spare parts warehouse. Just four years later, the building space had to be doubled to accommodate the continuous growth in the markets. Now, in spring 2024, the ground-breaking ceremony for a further expansion took place: an additional three training rooms and halls, new office space, an apprenticeship workshop based on the German model and a presentation and demonstration area.

15,000 m² of floor space will be created on a 145,000 m² site, from where sales partners and customers from the USA, Canada, Central America, Brazil, and Uruguay will continue to be served.

With 110 employees and the continued market success of the last 24 years, this investment forms the basis for the further expansion of the company’s market leadership in these important markets.

Austria has been revealed as the world’s best country for recycling in a new study by Reloop and Eunomia Research and Consulting. Wales leads the way in the UK, coming in at number 2. Northern Ireland was ranked 9th, England at 11th and Scotland at 15th among the 48 countries included in the comparison.

‘Global Recycling League Table — Phase One Report’ examined the recycling performance of 48 countries, including the countries that report the highest recycling rates and many of the world’s largest economies. The study also includes lower income countries in Latin America, Asia, and Africa, to highlight global disparities. It is being published today to celebrate World Environment Day.

Tomra, The Welsh Government, International Aluminium Institute and the Can Manufacturers Institute in collaboration with Reloop funded the research with the aim of ascertaining who was doing what well when it comes to recycling.

The report compares countries’ recycling rates on a like-for like basis. The focus is on ‘municipal waste’ recycling rates, in line with the definition used by the EU. Municipal waste is household waste and waste from other sources that are similar in nature and composition to household waste.

A country’s performance was analysed from their officially reported recycling rate (if they have one – wherever possible, using a figure that approximates a “municipal” recycling rate) and endeavours to use underlying waste data and other published sources to adjust the results to present them on a consistent basis.

The report found the world’s top recyclers are not exceeding a 60% recycling rate for municipal waste, once differences in reporting practice are accounted for. Eight of the top 10 are to be found within Europe, with seven being in Western Europe, reflecting the longstanding strategies and policies that have driven investments in collection, logistics, sorting and reprocessing across the continent.

The exceptions are two East Asian nations, Taiwan and South Korea, which also have long-established collection and treatment systems. These results highlight the importance of long-term investment in making recycling convenient and efficient, as well as the role that establishing behavioural norms over many years plays in creating a recycling culture.

The countries with the biggest drops in reported recycling rates were Singapore, South Korea, Spain, and Germany. A few countries saw adjustments increase the performance or compensate for the fact that they were not reporting recycling rates — China and South Africa being the biggest beneficiaries.

Wales was the highest performing country in the UK, sitting behind Austria in second place. The recycling rate, in Wales, has increased dramatically since the introduction of a new waste strategy; Towards Zero Waste in 2010. The strategy set long term, escalating recycling targets for local authorities in Wales, backed by financial penalties if the targets were missed. Also making up the top ten was Northern Ireland in ninth place, 45.3% recycling rate. England made it to in 11th, 44% recycling rate, and then Scotland in 15th place, 39% recycling rate.

The work also looked at collection for recycling rates for glass, metal, and plastic beverage containers. Whilst data availability was more limited, we found there were significant differences in the amounts of beverage containers being placed on the market, and little correlation between consumption and recycling performance. While the countries with the highest municipal waste recycling rates also generally had good beverage container collection rates, the countries with the greatest amounts of beverage containers placed on the market (US for plastics and metal, and Australia for glass) had quite low ‘collected for recycling’ rates.

The features of countries who had high municipal recycling rates included:

• · A formal waste and recycling strategy, including clear goals regarding targets to be achieved and steps to be taken to improve.
• Widespread separate collection of common recyclables, including organics, to provide households and businesses with a convenient way to recycle.
• Methods to ensure that recycling is funded on a “polluter pays” basis, such as EPR, to incentivise producers to avoid selling unnecessary packaging and to prevent performance from being restricted by the funds available to public bodies;
• The use of financial and other behavioural incentives to encourage households and businesses to use the recycling system (e.g. to avoid costs).
• The study found that many of the lower income countries from Latin America, Africa and the Middle East have the lowest performance both in terms of recycling and data quality. Moreover, a big part of their waste collection and recycling is undertaken by the informal sector, which had to be excluded from the calculation of recycling performance as it could not be verified that this waste is being managed appropriately.

Our recommendations for all countries are to:

• Improve municipal waste and recycling reporting including:
  • Use of clear and consistent definition of municipal waste
  • Reporting point of measurement
  • Reporting by key materials
  • Reporting by waste types
  • Reporting by source
  • Distinguish as far as possible between estimates of waste generation, collection and recycling.
• Adopt practices that are associated with high performing countries, as referenced in the list above.
• Where the informal recycling sector operates, examine how this could be formalised to protect human health and the environment, raise living standards, and improve recycling and data reporting

It is intended that a Phase 2 publication covering a larger number of countries will be published before INC-5 in the autumn. A database will be produced and published on the Reloop Global Data Observatory. Countries wishing to provide additional information to improve our estimates of their adjusted performance are welcome to submit this to Eunomia for review.

Download the report

This non-compliance bears importance as it obliges the immediate implementation of a deposit return system (DRS) for cans, bottles, and cartons. The groups behind the study, Zero Waste Europe and Zero Waste Alliance, point out that DRS works in more than 50 regions around the world and ensures the reuse and recycling of 90% of beverage containers.

The groups are now urging the Spanish Minister of Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge, to acknowledge the non-compliance.
“This dismal 36% is a wake-up call for the Spanish Government. Just admit we’ve missed the mark! As mandated by the Spanish Waste Law, it’s high time to roll out the deposit return system for beverage containers,” said Zero Waste Alliance spokespersons.

The Alliance says Spain’s manipulation of recycling results is paradigmatic at a European level. Zero Waste Europe has announced that it will take the evidence presented in the report to the European Commission to put an end to the fake data blocking the implementation of zero waste policies. Member States must report the initial data on the separate collection of beverage plastic bottles for the year 2022.

The consultancy Eunomia led work on the study, entitled “Analysis of the Separate Collection Rate of Plastic Beverage Bottles of up to three litres in Spain”. It forms three conclusions: opacity in Spain’s packaging waste data; a lack of solid methodology for tracking legal milestones in plastic bottle collection from the Ministry; and inconsistencies in the beverage industry’s data.

Joan Marc Simon, founder of Zero Waste Europe, expressed concern over the alarming lack of data on packaging recycling, stating: “If recycling rates were achieved, it would be transformative. But the industry’s ongoing data manipulation hinders the adoption of zero waste policies. That’s why we’re left with no choice but to bring this evidence to the European Commission, urging Eurostat to reject these fabricated figures that stall progress.”

The MSort product brand has been present in the global market for more than 20 years. MSort sorting systems are primarily used in glass recycling, the processing of industrial minerals, and other applications. With this acquisition, the owners family Buchholz, are pleased with the establishment of a new subsidiary that can offer additional sorting solutions and will expand the portfolio to include translucency and double-sided detection using colour and near-infrared (NIR) starting July 1, 2024.

“The expansion of the STEINERT Group’s portfolio to include sorting systems for flat and hollow glass and aggregates for sorting industrial minerals for mining are just a few examples that are a plus for us. The MSort brand from Mogensen is strong and complements our product range excellently. We look forward to working with the colleagues and thank our owners, the Buchholz family, who have made further growth possible,” said Peter Funke, CEO of STEINERT. “Through our twenty-year business relationship with STEINERT, we know MSort is in the best hands. We are handing over the product line to a top company with a strong global sales and service network,” said Dr. Hans Moormann and Dr. Marcus Wirtz, Managing Partners of the JOEST Group.

Sustainability has become deeply ingrained in the public consciousness as more and more people and businesses strive to be more environmentally friendly with their practices. In fact, research commissioned by Elopak and done by Absolute Market Research found that 75% of consumers consider companies’ environmental processes the most important when shopping with them.

Many companies are also making a greater effort to change to more sustainable processes internally, either due to their own eco-friendly goals or regulations set by the government. But with these fast motions to be more sustainable, how much of our understanding has been marred by misinformation?

Scott Hawthorne, Founding Director from Skips & Bins, leading suppliers of 240L wheelie bins in the UK, has offered some insight into the misconceptions around sustainability that have made their way into becoming common beliefs.

Recycling – are you sure you can?

Sustainability and eco-friendly practices are most associated with recycling. It’s something that individuals and businesses alike are concerned with, especially around packaging, common plastic items, and caution as to which can be recycled. This has become especially true with items sealed with plastic film or bottles with attached caps.

Hawthorne comments that this is a common misunderstanding of the composition of the materials in both packaging elements: “Many packages might be made up of materials that could be recyclable while other parts aren’t, making recycling more difficult in the sorting process. For example, plastic bottle bodies might be recyclable while their caps aren’t. This can even be a problem due to cap size, as they may not be picked up at recycling facilities and can find their way back into the environment as a pollutant.”

This is an issue that companies manufacturing these bottles could address, specifically by designing bottles where the caps are made from the same materials for easier recycling once they reach the plants. This extends to food packaging, often sealed with film, which often can’t be recycled due to the film’s material.

Sustainable products aren’t more costly

The cost of products is a vital conversation given the cost-of-living crisis and inflation concerns. This is where another misconception arises around sustainability, which is that more eco-friendly alternative products are more costly. While this can be true for some products, it’s not a hard and fast ruling in costings.

Demand for sustainable products in the UK has increased as time has passed, with the Statista Global Consumer Survey from 2023 finding that 33% of consumers would be willing to buy more eco-friendly products. As this demand increases, more manufacturers will likely be able to produce more products to meet said demands and offer competitive prices, which will scale with their availability.

Not only does it move away from the idea that you can only be sustainable on a generous budget, but it indicates that sustainability is not solely centred on recycling. Every stop on the product’s life cycle from production to disposal is important, including the energy and materials used in manufacturing, its durability, and how it affects the environment when thrown out. As a result, a product that’s labelled as recyclable may not be.

Sustainability needs to be considered by everyone

Governments and large corporations are a huge focus of conversation around sustainability, with a huge misconception being that it’s entirely their onus to drive sustainability. When considering sustainability practices, it is essential to recognise the significance of individual behaviours, lifestyle decisions, and systemic change.

Hawthorne outlines the importance of educating businesses and governments as well as individuals on how important their choices are: “Education and awareness are crucial for everyone to understand how each decision made impacts your sustainability.”

“When it comes to sustainability, it’s important to consider the ecological costs of materials. For example, despite being considered sustainable, bamboo requires heavy pesticide use and deforestation when grown. This indicates the wider misunderstandings around what’s sustainable and what’s not, as well as the nuances within sustainability and the decision-making that goes into it.”

When considering sustainability, the answer lies in connecting every aspect of the concept. This extends from a product’s lifecycle and where it ends up to the individual behaviours of consumers. Education is an important aspect of this, and with a greater focus on teaching the public what appropriate sustainable practices look like, it can build towards a healthier future from a social and environmental perspective.