Market

| Slovenia is gradually moving towards circular economy. The country's capital Ljubljana, which holds the coveted title of European Green Capital 2016, is hosting many activities promoting sustainable development.

| Plastics Recyclers Europe was celebrating its 20th birthday during the Annual Meeting which took place on 16 and 17 June in Cascais, Portugal. The event gathered over 150 participants from all over Europe who were debating on improving plastic waste sorting.

| According to preliminary International Copper Study Group (ICSG) data, the refined copper market for March 2016 (excluding the adjustment for changes in China’s bonded stocks) showed an apparent production deficit of around 40,000 metric tonnes (t). When making seasonal adjustments for world refined production and usage, March showed a similar production deficit.

| Höcker Polytechnik GmbH made waves again at IFAT 2016 in Munich. This leading manufacturer of extraction and filtration systems for recycling, disposal and environmental technology, based in Hilter, Lower Saxony, presented their latest innovations in dust-free recycling operations, automated waste separation and pleasant sorting cabin atmosphere.

| Recoup, the plastics recycling member based organisation, asked visitors and exhibitors and Plastics Recycling Expo (held last week in Telford), whether the UK should remain or brexit from the EU by recycling their empty plastic drink bottles through the voting bins.

| BIR staged another meeting of its Latin America Committee (LAC) at its recent World Recycling Convention in Berlin.

| Interest in the London Metal Exchange’s scrap and rebar futures is growing faster than expected, LME Business Development Manager Marko Kusigerski told a workshop at the recent BIR World Recycling Convention in Berlin.

| Based on its new Recycleready Technology, The Dow Chemical Company has rolled out a new stand-up pouch made with Retain polymer modifiers in order to meet consumer demand for recyclability. The new packaging product ensures recyclability of polyethylene-based barrier packaging as part of existing grocery store drop-off recycling programs.

| A waste-sorting and recycling pilot project in Vietnam's Hanoi city is no longer active since it started 10 years ago. The project on sorting domestic waste at source was funded by Japan International Cooperation Agency.

| Gover, who is currently Operations Director at WRAP, replaces Liz Goodwin, who is stepping down on 30 June after 9 years as CEO.

| Researchers are investigating a new material that could be used to trap certain gases such as Xenon and Krypton released during nuclear reprocessing. Conventional methods of removing these radioactive gasses operate at extremely low, high energy temperatures.

| The Oman Environmental Services Holding Company S.A.O.C (Be’ah) is undertaking an aggressive waste management plan in the country. Officials from Be'ah said that Oman's waste management investments could total about OMR 423.47 million.

| The BIR world recycling organisation and the European Recycling Industries’ Confederation have both campaigned for the development of more modern, paperless control procedures for transboundary waste movements.

| Through the joint efforts of recyclers and tyre producers, it had been possible to convince the EU authorities not to ban the use of tyre-derived granules in artificial turf infill pending further research into their environmental and health impact. This represented a major issue given that infill constituted a “very big” application area for end-of-life tyres (ELTs) in Europe, it was explained to the BIR Tyres & Rubber Committee meeting in Berlin by its Chairman, Ruud Burlet of Rubber Resources.