Recycling Recap: what happened in 2016?

Global – Looking back, 2016 was an eventful year full of ups and downs, big recycling projects and promising discoveries. To make sure you didn’t miss out on any of these developments, here is an overview of some of the best-read news stories of 2016.

The value of the global e-scrap recycling market will climb to US$ 34.32 billion by 2022. On a side note, as much as 50 million tonnes of e-scrap is generated annually around the world.

International Shipbreaking has been awarded a US$ 6 million contract to transport, dismantle and scrap the 61000 tonne USS Independence, a Forrestal-class aircraft carrier that was decommissioned by the US Navy.

The Indian government’s ban on imports of solid plastic waste could affect over 10 000 people who work at recycling units. This ban will ‘put pressure on other Asian countries to absorb the recycling material that would normally have been earmarked for India’.

The United States Advanced Battery Consortium – a collaborative organisation of Ford Motor Company, General Motors and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles – has awarded a US$ 2.2 million contract to researchers to establish a new lithium-ion battery recycling process.

Researchers at the US universities of Yale and Columbia have released the biannual Environmental Performance Index, which details the 180 most (un)sustainable countries across the world.

Revenue for the US mobile phone recycling industry is estimated to reach US$ 827.5 million by 2021.

Other popular content:

• *Canadian researchers claim revolution in gold recycling
• *Battered scrap market leads to 80 US yard closures
• *Iran’s steel scrap demand set to explode
• *McDonald’s has a craving for recycling
• *Ghana building US$ 30 million e-cycling centre
• *Surprise recovery in ferrous scrap values
• *India taking car recycling to the next level
• *Solar panel recycling push in Japan
• *Holland: a small country with a big recycling legacy
• *Sensory overload! A new chapter in sorting scrap aluminium alloys