BIR CONVENTION: Recyclers Bid for Presence on International Forums

Several pending international regulations have prompted a chairman within the Bureau of International Recycling (BIR) to underline the importance of strong recycling industry representation within international forums as a means of heading off potentially damaging rules and regulations.

BIR International Environment Council (IEC) chairman Alvaro Rodriguez Martinez of Lajo y Rodriguez S.A, Spain, told delegates to the BIR Convention in Oslo, Norway, last week that it is important that the IEC gains even greater support and representation, notably in South America, Africa and Australasia.

One proposal still under discussion at OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) level to extend environmentally sound management systems on companies handling non-hazardous materials designated as “waste” could have severe financial implications for the recycling industry, BIR delegates were warned. Third-party verification could cost the recycling industry anything between 7 and 15 million dollars per year in consultants’ fees alone.

Rodriguez Martinez urged all members to contribute relevant environmental information to the IEC micro Web site, since data exchange and collaboration could yield solutions to recycling industry problems elsewhere in the world. “We mustn’t just think about national problem-solving; solutions can come through international collaboration too,” he remarked.

BIR Environmental & Technical Director Ross Bartley noted that, with 10 new countries set to join the European Union as soon as May of 2004, the accession treaty made reference to trans-boundary shipments. Five of these new member countries have restrictive controls in place that are likely to affect exporters of materials designated as “waste.” Poland, noted Bartley, is in a position to refuse imports of non-hazardous wastes such as glass, plastics and paper.

Characterizing shredder fluff as non-hazardous is a goal in some nations. According to Wilhelm Rosenlund from the Norwegian Recycling Federation, all of his country’s shredder operators have joined together over the last year in a bid to compile documentary proof that their fluff was not a hazardous waste. As a result, Norway’s National Environmental Department and State Pollution Bureau has recently approved its re-classification as non-hazardous.

Rolf Willeke of BDSV in Germany confirmed that his organization is also working on a non-hazardous classification for fluff. He called for a Europe-wide approach to this issue.