At the beginning of April, I had the pleasure of joining the Mineral Recycling Forum 2025 in beautiful Cannes, or more precisely, Mandelieu-La Napoule, where the industry met to talk shop about the challenges and opportunities in mineral recycling. And it was far from just another conference. 

Together with Lucas Zimmermann from MIRECO, I presented our joint talk “All About Sorting – The Future of Refractory Recycling.” We showed why advanced sorting technology is one of the key levers to unlock higher recycling rates and reduce dependency on primary raw materials and how it can be done in practice. 

It was a great opportunity to link our work with ReSoURCE. Presenting this European initiative in front of such a specialized industrial audience felt like an important step to build bridges between innovation, operational reality, and sustainability. 

Great Exchange, Great People 

What stood out for me? Definitely the quality of discussions and the open, constructive exchange. It’s good to see that in our rather traditional industry, there’s growing momentum around digitalization, circularity, and smarter use of secondary raw materials. Events like this bring together the right people, researchers, plant managers, commercial experts, young professionals, and the mix of perspectives really adds value. 

The presentations covered a wide range of topics: from refractory recovery and XRF-based technologies to recycling glass, and strategies to improve raw material circularity. There was a clear red thread throughout: collaboration and innovation are key if we want to scale industrial recycling and move toward a more sustainable raw material supply. 

It was also encouraging to see that sorting is increasingly seen as a strategic tool, not just a technical detail. That’s exactly the kind of thinking we need to accelerate change. And it validated the direction we’ve taken with MIRECO and our work on ReSoURCE. 

A Quick Thought on Why These Events Matter 

Cannes reminded me again how important it is to step out of your day-to-day projects. To listen, to challenge your ideas, and to connect with others who are working on similar issues from different angles. Forums like this give our industry the pulse check it needs and help align around common goals like CO₂ reduction, resource efficiency, and technological progress. 

Thanks to the Organizers

Last but not least: a big thank you to Mike O’Driscoll and the IMFORMED team for the professional and smooth organization. You can tell when an event is made by people who know the industry from the inside and who care. 

Looking forward to continuing the conversations and to seeing where this growing network leads us next.