Heinz de Fries, an honorary president of the BVSE, Germany’s Federal Organization of Secondary Raw Materials and Disposal, has been congratulated by that group for celebrating his 85th birthday in mid-August.
De Fries was heralded by the BVSE as “one of the most notable personalities of the German and international scrap paper industries.” He began his career of 40-plus years at the firm Erich Böhm in Hoch-heim/Main and worked his way up that company to the role of managing director, working alongside Senior Executive Erich Böhm.
Along with his successful career achievements, de Fries was active from 1974 to 1987 at the Bureau of International Recycling (BIR) in Brussels. In four of those years, he was the first German president of the global recycling organization. Since 1987, de Fries has been an honorary president of the BIR and a member of its Managing Board of Directors.
In 1992, de Fries was elected president of BVP, Germany’s Federal Organization of Paper Raw Material, as it was then known. Under his leadership, the BVP and the Professional Organization of Glass Recycling (FGR) combined to form the current BVSE in 1993. During his presidency, the BVSE developed into one of Germany’s leading business organizations for the recycling and solid waste industries.