BIR Speakers See Bright Outlook for Recycling

During the Bureau of International Recycling’s General Assembly session at the association’s spring convention, Dominique Maguin, La Compagnie des Matières Premières in France, noted that recyclers offer “the perfect response to growing global awareness of the need for environmental protection.”

Maguin, president of the BIR, added that the recycling industry had become “completely indispensable to the life of our planet,” but had not always realized the importance of its mission. “We must therefore ensure that our contribution is understood by the international community so that it can gauge our importance and, in return, respect the interests of our companies,” Maguin insisted. “We must therefore communicate more and better.”

In his remarks, Maguin also noted that the Istanbul event is “the most successful BIR Convention ever,” attracting close to 1,600 attendees from 69 countries.

In his keynote address to the General Assembly, Hamish McRae - associate editor and principal economic commentator for the U.K.’s The Independent - praised the recycling industry for “enabling growth to go on without increasing the footprint on the world’s resources.” As the business world increasingly recognized the value of developing a “green” reputation, this would bring “a huge benefit to your industry,” he said.

With the debt legacy driving what McRae described as the current “transition from plenty to austerity,” governments would be forced to “rethink everything” and “do more with less,” he noted. This mindset shift would present the recycling industry with “a wonderful opportunity”.

Doug Woodring, co-founder and director of Project Kaisei, praised the support of BIR for an initiative whose aim is to “remove and remediate” the massive volumes of debris found in the world’s oceans, including a significant amount of plastics.

Professor Philippe Chalmin with the French research firm CyclOpe presented the findings of the first global BIR commodity survey and emphasized the importance of the shift away from annual benchmark pricing in the iron ore sector. Chalmin also expressed concern over the global markets to rely so significantly on the Chinese market.

The General Assembly concluded with the award of a BIR Certificate of Merit to Bob Garino, commodities director of the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries. In presenting this award, Maguin praised the recipient for his market expertise and dedication to the recycling industry.