Page 46 from: Recycling International – July/August issue 2023
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International Automotive Recycling Congress
June 19 – 21, Antwerp, Belgium
International Congress for Battery Recycling
September 6 – 8, Valencia, Spain
International Electronics Recycling Congress
January 17 – 19, Salzburg, Austria
Be part of the Circular Economy Community
www.icm.ch Register now!
MAJORITY OF EU STATES SET TO MISS
RECYCLING TARGETS
Eighteen members states of the EU are on
course to miss reuse and recycling targets for
2025 and several could fall short of the 2035
landfilling goal, according to the European
Commission.
The EC believes nine states are on track to meet
the 2025 targets: Austria, Belgium, Czechia,
Denmark, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the
Netherlands and Slovenia. But it says Estonia,
Finland, France, Ireland, Latvia, Portugal, Spain
and Sweden are at risk of missing the municipal
waste target while Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus,
Greece, Hungary, Lithuania, Malta, Poland,
Romania and Slovakia are at risk of missing both
the targets for municipal and overall packaging
waste for 2025.
A ‘Waste Early Warning’ report sets out recom-
mendations for getting back on track after setting
out significant differences in waste management
performance across the EU.
‘For some countries, there is still a long way to go
to meet the targets agreed in EU legislation and
more reforms are needed, notably: to ensure bio-
waste treatment, which represents a third of
municipal waste; separate collection of waste – a
prerequisite to recycling; and improve data quali-
ty. However, most EU countries have or are in the
process of putting place waste reforms to improve
recycling rates, some of which should yield results
in the coming years.’
The report acknowledges that external factors
have affected states’ efforts with the Covid pan-
demic hitting separate collection and the recent
spike in energy prices adversely affecting recycling
activities.
SENSOR TECH HELPS RECOVER STOLEN CLOTHES BANK
The UK’s Textile Recycling
Association has welcomed the use
of sensor tracking technology that
recently helped recover a stolen
clothes bank in London.
Lontex Exports, which collects and
exports quality second-hand textiles
to Eastern Europe, Africa and Asia,
recovered a stolen clothes banks
thanks to sensor tracking technolo-
gy developed by Norwegian waste
management technology provider
Reen that combines sensors and
intelligent cloud-based tools.
Reen installed sensors inside the
company’s clothes banks to provide
Lontex with better visibility of the
location, condition and fill levels of
each of its banks to optimise collec-
tion processes.
Saving money
The partnership proved to be very timely because, shortly after the sensor
installation, one of Lontex’s larger clothes banks was stolen. The sensor con-
firmed the bank was missing from its assigned location shortly after it was sto-
len.
Reen monitored the movement of the bank during the time it was missing. Its
approximate position was identified and a helpful local resident provided the
exact location so the bank could be recovered, saving Lontex the £800 (EUR
930) replacement cost.
Business threat
‘We welcome the development and use of data-led technologies that can
reduce the many negative impacts of clothes bank thefts,’ says TRA’s ceo Alan
Wheeler. ‘The public use these convenient banks in good faith with the intention
that the clothes will be reused or recycled. Such thefts not only threaten busi-
nesses such as Lontex and the thousands of green jobs in the used clothing and
textile industry but they also deny many charity partners or cash-strapped local
authorities much needed income to deliver their vital services.’
AURUBIS LOOKS TO US GROWTH
Copper recycler Aurubis has unveiled its strategy for delivering sustainable growth strategy at a ‘Capital Market
Day’ in London, with particular focus on growth in the US.
Our Aurubis smelter network is already the most sustainable and efficient in the world today,’ Aurubis ceo Roland Harings says.
‘We will continue to strengthen our leading role through targeted, strategic investments, like the construction of a multi-metal
recycling plant in the US state of Georgia [Richmond], expanding the tankhouse at our Bulgarian Pirdop site, and the Complex
Recycling Hamburg project in Germany.’
Harings believes the US market has potential for strategic growth. ‘We see Aurubis Richmond as the first step along the path to
becoming a fully integrated copper producer that uses recycling materials in North America as well,’ he adds. ‘Future invest-
ments in the downstream copper value chain would put us in a position to further strengthen the circular economy in the US.’
Aurubis is implementing a variety of decarbonisation projects at its sites to reduce its Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 50% by 2030.
The largest share is an expected drop in Scope 2 emissions through greater renewable energies in the electricity mix and mea-
sures to improve energy efficiency. To reduce Scope 1 emissions, the company is testing ammonia as a carbon-neutral fuel at its
Hamburg wire rod plant, which it believes could avoid up to 4 000 tonnes of CO2.
Battery recycling
Aurubis adds it has achieved ‘very compelling’ results from a pilot plant for battery recycling. The company predicts that the
availability of black mass (shredded batteries and large quantities of metals) will rapidly rise, in particular due to an increase in
the number of used batteries available from electric vehicles – and not just in Europe.
‘This would make entering the commercial market attractive,’ the company says. ‘The next step is to start the first commercial
activities in battery recycling with a demo plant in 2024. The company has already set clear criteria for selecting a site for a com-
mercial plant for industrial scale production starting in fiscal year 2026-27.’
ROMCO GROUP BROADENS FOCUS TO COPPER SCRAP
Nigerian aluminium recycler Romco Group has expanded its product range to include premium copper ingots. ‘Our dedication to
unlocking non-ferrous metal recycling potential in emerging markets has led us to explore opportunities in copper,’ explains com-
pany ceo Raymond Onovwigun.
Romco is now operating a copper induction furnace at its facility in Lagos which has successfully smelted copper into ingots with approxi-
mately 99% purity. Following extensive testing in 2022, Romco shipped the first ingots to central Asia this year, with production set to
scale up throughout 2023.
Onovwigun says this new milestone demonstrates Romco’s ability to adapt and meet the world’s rapidly increasing demand for recycled
materials. ‘Our decision to produce copper ingots is informed by our understanding of Africa’s potential as a truly circular economy,’ he
says. ‘We are confident that our copper ingots will contribute to the growth of the recycling industry, including our partners and the
wider communities we work in.’
He believes that a sustainable future is achievable through investment in renewable resources, thus replacing wasteful, polluting practic-
es. ‘Our copper ingots are a tangible representation of this belief, and we are proud to introduce this premium product for the global
market.’
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