Heidelberg Materials has expanded its Agecroft recycling site in Swinton, Manchester with the UK’s largest wash plant, capable of processing up to 450,000 tonnes of excavated waste a year and fitted with a near-closed-loop drainage and water recovery system. The plant separates, washes and upgrades mainly soil-based construction, demolition and industrial arisings into high-quality recycled aggregates under strict contamination-control protocols. A new rail siding now brings primary aggregate from Horton quarry in the Yorkshire Dales, cutting HGV movements and CO₂ for supply into the Manchester market.

Tenaris has begun domestic production of its proprietary TN 95EY steel grade at its Sault Ste. Marie Industrial Centre, the only North American facility manufacturing both seamless and welded pipe under one roof, targeting high-pressure, high-temperature sour service wells in the Montney and Duvernay formations. The company has invested over C$355 million in Canada since 2020, including a C$306 million modernisation and expansion programme announced in May 2026 with federal and Ontario government support. Local TN 95EY output required retooling existing processes plus comprehensive per-pipe testing and traceability, tightening supply chains for Canadian oil and gas operators.

Centrepolis Accelerator at Lawrence Technological University has launched the Critical Materials Manufacturing Technology Accelerator with USCAR, offering a $100,000 grand prize and pilot-scale commercialisation support for technologies that cut US dependence on imported critical materials and rare earth elements. The Innovation Challenge targets processes and materials that can move rapidly from lab to production for automotive, aerospace, energy, electronics and defence components, including batteries, motors, power electronics and structural parts. Eligible proposals must focus on processing, substitution or end‑of‑life recovery and recycling, not mineral exploration, mining or primary ore extraction.