Politics

| With paper recycling companies remaining under extreme economic and regulatory pressure, “there is no room for a further deterioration”, the BIR Paper Divison meeting in Berlin was warned by its President, Reinhold Schmidt of Recycling Karla Schmidt.

| The non-ferrous metals recycling industry should focus on its strengths of sorting, processing and logistics rather than on trying to second-guess price movements, it was argued by European Metal Recycling’s Murat Bayram at the BIR Non-Ferrous Metals Division meeting in Berlin.

| BIR is spearheading the formation of a new body “to take forward the message of facilitating free and fair trade of recyclables with minimum regulatory controls”, it was announced at the body’s Annual General Assembly in Berlin on May 31.

| The UAE Ministry of Economy is discussing possible ways to reduce its export of industrial aluminium, leather and paper waste, so that it may provide raw materials for its own industry.

| A report by the Association of Cities and Regions for Recycling and sustainable Resource management (ACR+) points out the advantages of PAYT in terms of waste reduction and recycling.

| The Metal Packaging and Recycling Industry, the Recycling Industry of bottom ash and the Waste-to-Energy sector jointly support the European Commission’s approach to boost quality recycling and markets for secondary raw materials in the Circular Economy Package.

| On 17 March, the European Commission presented a legislative proposal to revise the EU Fertilisers Regulation. FEAD submitted its preliminary comments on the proposal in the context of a stakeholder consultation conducted by the Commission.

| A plea for extended producer responsibility by Hermann Erdman, CEO of REDISA (Recycling and Economic Development Initiative of South Africa).

| According to BusinessWaste.co.uk, seven out of ten say they want private bin collections to replace council services.

| BIR commends this OECD guidance to developing countries that look to EPR as a ‘tax-free’ means to establish waste management and recycling.

| The BIR Paper Division has confirmed their panel of invited guest speakers that will provide delegates in Berlin with information of strategic importance in the framework of the current challenging business climate. Under the presidency of Reinhold Schmidt, Recycling Karla Schmidt, the divisional plenary session takes place on Tuesday, 31 May 2016 at 10.30 at the Berlin InterContinental Hotel.

| The European Plastics Converters (EuPC) in association with Polymer Comply Europe (PCE) held a REACH Workshop: The Plastics Industry State of play with practical examples on 17 and 18 March 2016 in Brussels.

| On March 18, the International Automobile Recycling Congress IARC 2016 in Berlin, Germany, came to an end. More than 220 representatives of the global automotive recycling sector had come together to discuss current political conditions and the latest trends in recycling technology.

| The circular economy’s time is now, not tomorrow. This was the key message of Euric’s first Annual Conference.