The project will address the growing volume of end-of-life lithium-ion batteries and the processing of black mass - the material produced when batteries are broken down - into reusable components. Recyclus recently became the first UK company to recycle lithium-ion batteries. The Battery Innovation Programme is supported by the Department for Business and Trade.

The funding, from Empire State Development's NYSTAR programme, is linked to an existing $1.1m National Science Foundation project and will support the deployment of REEgen's BioREEcover system in industrial settings. The Cornell University spinout, which participated in Batch 9 of Germany's Circular Valley accelerator programme, plans to use the grant to secure commercial partnerships and launch its first on-site recovery unit.

The EA confirmed in guidance that there are no restrictions on using AI technology for materials facility sampling, provided operators can demonstrate their methodology meets regulations and produces representative results. The MF Regulations were updated in 2024 to introduce more detailed and frequent reporting standards, and the expansion of Simpler Recycling in England brought household waste in scope from March 2026, with flexible plastics and fibre-based composite cartons due to follow in 2027.

Greyparrot said its Analyzer units, installed on the operators' sorting lines, generate shift-by-shift compositional data covering material streams including mixed plastics, food-grade PET bottles, metal cans and PET trays.

CSG Recovery, the group's specialist division, acquired the Stanley Street site in 2019 and has been using it for manual dismantling of products including e-cigarettes, electric toothbrushes and pregnancy tests, as well as processing aerosols, clinical waste and photographic waste. The company says 95 per cent of material passing through the Blackburn site over the past year has been diverted from landfill.

The Policing and Crime Act will let courts impose driving licence penalty points on those convicted of fly-tipping, with up to nine points available for a single incident, according to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Drivers who reach 12 points within three years can be disqualified from driving. The measure forms part of the government's Waste Crime Action Plan, which also introduces up to 20 hours of unpaid clean-up work for offenders, requirements to pay clean-up costs, and the naming of illegal waste operators.

Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds said: 'Courts will soon be able to strip repeat fly-tippers of their driving licences, hitting offenders where it hurts and helping to clean up our streets. This is just one measure from our Waste Crime Action Plan to crack down on criminals.' The government has also pointed to around £78 billion of council funding in England for this year as supporting local fly-tipping enforcement.