No Sustainability without Recycling

The coronavirus pandemic has negatively affected the life and activities of millions of people around the world. Lockdown and social distance requirements, a decline in demand, disruptions in value chains, the global downfall of economic performance and unemployment are consequences of the crisis. Thus, it is hardly surprising that probably everybody wants to know when the pandemic will end.

No one knows when that will be. Until the fight against the virus is over, protection measures are highly recommended. That also applies to face masks, which are said to become the next sought-after fashion accessory. These products can also be made from recycled textile as – for example – fashion students of the LCI Barcelona (Spain) and the manufacturer Ballo in Cape Town (South Africa) have demonstrated. These masks combine fashion with recycling and sustainability.

According to some experts, the economic recovery could take more than a year. The Dutch banking group ING has warned that the world’s economy is unlikely to return to pre-pandemic levels before 2022 at the earliest. In the opinion of the World Bank Group, the recovery phase can help build prosperity and resilience by contributing to the long-term potential and sustainability of a country’s development pathway. “There are encouraging signs from some countries – including China, Germany and South Korea – that are looking at green elements as part of their recovery.”

Sustainability is the most frequently mentioned way to cope with the economic damage. The waste management and recycling industries can make a major contribution to achieve this goal. The companies of this sector turn waste into raw materials while saving greenhouse gas emissions and energy. As the Bureau of International Recycling (BIR) described in its 2019 Annual Report, the carbon dioxide (CO2) emission savings achieved through recycling are significant: “Aluminium > 92 %, Copper > 65 %, Ferrous > 58 %, Paper > 18 %, Nickel > 90 %, Zinc > 76 %, Lead > 99 %, Tin > 99 %.” Another example: The recycling rates for used textiles are still low in Europe (26 %), China (15 %), United States of America (12 %) and Hong Kong (4 %).

Some visions for the economic recovery after the Covid-19 pandemic are presented on page 4. Furthermore, the company INEOS Styrolution informs about the intended closed loop for styrenics (page 14). Additional topics are Brazil’s challenges for the future (page20), Vietnam’s waste management (page 24) and European solutions concerning textile recycling (from page 29 onwards), to name but a few.

We hope you get a lot of new and useful information from reading this current magazine.

Furthermore, we would like to introduce our new Recycling Expo and Conference for the recycling industry “eREC” to you . The new expo is a virtual platform to network with each other. We kindly invite you to be there as an exhibitor or visitor.

Yours, Brigitte Weber