We Recycle Solar will build the US’ first end-to-end critical materials recovery facility for retired solar panels on a 10-acre campus outside Dallas, targeting Q3 2027 start-up. The Arizona-based firm says the commercial-scale plant will process one panel per minute and recover up to 96% of contained silver, copper, silicon, aluminium and glass through a proprietary extraction process that avoids any offshore smelting. WRS plans a further $100 million investment in four additional US facilities within four years, aiming to capture value from an $80 billion projected 2050 solar-panel waste stream.

Aston University is partnering with Jesmonite Ltd under an Innovate UK knowledge transfer partnership to redevelop Jesmonite’s low‑carbon acrylic, resin-based composites with added biochar as potential cement alternatives for façades and surface applications. Researchers from Aston’s Energy and Bioproducts Research Institute and Department of Civil Engineering will characterise the materials at molecular level and test mechanical and durability performance while targeting further reductions in embodied carbon. The work aims to move Jesmonite’s currently niche, film-set and design products into mainstream construction specifications, offering designers non‑cementitious façade and cladding options.

Global technology-sector gold demand stayed flat at 323 tonnes in 2025 despite surging AI chip sales, as miniaturisation and design changes to reduce or remove gold offset new AI-related uses, the World Gold Council reports. Gold traded around US$4,270/oz on Friday, roughly 14% higher year-on-year, keeping cost pressure on manufacturers that are redesigning connectors and contacts. Co-packaged optics (CPO) for hyperscale AI data centres, backed by Nvidia and other chipmakers, could become a meaningful new source of demand because lasers and high‑frequency electrodes in CPO packages still rely on gold’s durability and conductivity.