All Environment Publications

European iron and steel foundries produce 9 million tonnes of sand waste per year. 25% of this sand is recycled in concrete production, but chemical residues limit its use. Alternatively, composting can reduce these chemical residues. This study gives practical guidance for foundry sand composting.

Making European agriculture more sustainable means carefully managing the negative environmental impacts of manure and fertiliser. This paper investigates the cost/benefits of nutrient recovery from these waste products and how the recovery of nutrients from manure can be managed via policy.   

This paper explores a plastics sustainability challenge, suggests novel solutions and opportunities to capture value in business transition. It considers biodegradable plastics, an orthopaedics library for product re-use, a plastics ‘value map’ for market regulation and manufacturing efficiency.

Several obstacles prevent the uptake of circular economy practices within EU photovoltaic solar panel production, including reliance on Chinese imports and economic obstacles to recycling components. This study offers a practical decision-making tool to evaluate and address these challenges.

Aquaculture, or fish farming, faces significant environmental challenges that could be addressed by adopting circular economy practices and principles. This Italian study investigates the opportunities, knowledge gaps and perceptions of circular economy policies amongst producers.

Plastic seed trays used to grow seedlings in plant nurseries are a harmful agrifood waste product. This study trialled new seed trays that align with circular economy principles. These alternatives had less environmental impact than traditional trays.

Plastic industry producers can be held accountable through policies on extending producer responsibility for treating and managing waste. This research examines the effectiveness of policy frameworks that predict future plastic waste, and highlights the need for an EU-wide approach.

An understanding of river ecosystem services helps with the EU’s mission to restore 25,000km of waterways. This paper quantifies the economic and nature benefits and costs of different river management systems on the Rhine Branches. A multifunctional, nature-based approach works best.

An investigation of groundwater contamination has found 54 hazardous pharmaceutical and hygiene micropollutants are still leaching from a closed, unlined landfill site in Poland, highlighting the importance of protectively lining landfills.