In the southern Belgian province of Namur, concrete and bricks from demolished buildings are being turned into eco-friendly road surfaces.

Other regions in Europe are motivated by success stories like this one, and are now supported by a team of experts from ECOPOL to implement their new policies.

Vehicles seats are normally made of polyurethane foam, a thick material that is expensive to recycle and ends up in dumping sites or being incinerated.

Tyres are well suited for recycling. They are easy to collect and do not require any costly sorting process.  However, in Europe, still only about 50% of the tyres are recycled .

Non-ferrous metals are increasingly in demand because of the electronics industry. "They are used in LED’s, computers, smartphones; this is a much bigger business now," says Kate Hornsby , Waste in Social Environment manager at the Technical University Aachen , Germany.