Food loss and waste is a major sustainability problem as it consumes resources and causes environmental pollution. At the same time, the plastics industry is looking for alternatives to petroleum-based plastics.

Europe is in the midst of a profound transformation, which is characterized by the le-gally enshrined path to climate neutrality. The current report "Trends and Projections in Europe 2025" by the European Environment Agency (EEA) shows significant pro-gress, but also critical gaps that require a rapid change of course.

What does a circular world look like in 2050? There are many different ideas about this. In the article "Degrowth or barbarism? An exploration of four circular futures of 2050" in "Frontiers in Sustainability" deals with the question of how society could develop in four different scenarios.

Ten years ago, the Paris Climate Agreement was adopted. As every year, UN Environment has examined the progress made towards achieving the goals agreed there. As the "Emissions Gap Report 2025" clearly shows, the development is going in the right direction, but far too slowly.

For years, the discussion about climate protection has been accompanied by the question of how economic growth and ecological sustainability can be reconciled. While some perspectives see these two goals as opposites, it is increasingly evident that ambitious climate policy opens up economic opportunities. The circular economy plays a decisive role in this. The study "The economic benefits of climate action - How decarbonization can enhance competitiveness and growth" by Deloitte and KfW provides an empirical basis for this and shows that wie stark kreislaufwirtschaftliche Ansätze zur Wettbewerbsfähigkeit beitragen können.

Population growth, urbanisation and industrialisation have led to a sharp increase in waste volumes worldwide. Conventional systems with collection routes, manual sorting and landfilling are inefficient, cost-intensive and ecologically problematic. What is needed is a shift to more sustainable, technology-based approaches. Digital technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) enable the use of real-time data, intelligent route planning, automated sorting and better traceability. These factors can improve efficiency and resource use and reduce ecological pollution. The study "Revolutionising urban solid waste management with AI and IoT: a review of smart solutions for waste collection, sorting and recycling" by a Saudi Arabian researcher sheds light on the status of such solutions, their potential and limits, as well as framework conditions for sustainable waste management. The study was published in the journal "Results in Engineering".

As the drive to improve recycling efficiency intensifies, more and more attention is being paid to keeping dust within the process flow. And controlling particulates is not only good for workplace health and compliance, it's better for productivity and the bottom line, too.

Since the 1950s, global plastic production has grown rapidly and now reached several billion tonnes overall. The majority of these plastics are still being landfilled, incinerated or released into the environment in an uncontrolled manner after a short period of use, while only a small proportion is recycled. To counteract these developments, the idea of a circular economy for plastics is gaining in importance. In addition to mechanical and chemical processes, biocatalytic approaches are increasingly coming into focus. Enzymes offer the potential to break down certain types of plastic into their monomers under mild conditions, thus creating high-quality recyclates. The public perception of "plasticeating bacteria" illustrates the fascination for this technology, but also carries the risk of inflated expectations. Prof. Wolfgang Zimmermann, professor emeritus at the Institute of Analytical Chemistry at the University of Leipzig, has carried out an analysis in his report "Biocatalytic recycling of plastics: facts and fiction" in order to realistically classify the opportunities and limits of biocatalytic recycling. The report was published in "Chemical Science".