Recycling: Globally also a strong Ladies’ Business

In anticipation of International Women’s Day on 8 March, the women in business of British Go-Pak Group, a part of Thailand-based SCG Packaging (SCGP), called for scalable circular solutions to accelerate circular innovation and inspire the next generation. On this occasion, they not only mentioned the company’s old corrugated cardboard (OCC) closed-loop recycling system, Go-Recycle, but also the fact that across the UK manufacturing industry women make up just 28–29 percent of the workforce (2024–25), with representation in senior roles remaining limited.

However, this is not the whole truth. In the recycling sector, women globally play a significant role in contributing to the circular economy. Many serve as chief executives and are members of national and international associations and trade federations. There are also organizations especially for women: “Women in Recycling Foundation (WORF)” in Tanzania, “All Women Recycling” in South Africa, “Women Of Waste (WOW!)” of ISWA – International Solid Waste Association, “Frauen in der Recycling- und Entsorgungswirtschaft” of bvse-Bundesverband Sekundärrohstoffe und Entsorgung in Germany and “Women in Recycling” in the UK, to name a few examples.

As in every year, the Global Recycling Day was held on March 18. This year’s theme, “Don’t think waste. Think opportunity!” was met in many countries to emphasize the importance of recycling. The strong participation in the annual Recycling Heroes Competition clearly shows that recycling is a significant priority. Winners this year come from Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, and both North and South America. Moreover, there were other initiatives; for example, year 8 students from Ah Mu Academy in Samoa “traded time in the classroom for a day where they played waste detectives at SPREP’s Vailima headquarters, before they were crowned Pacific Recycling Heroes”.

When the world’s leading trade fair for environmental technologies, IFAT Munich, takes place from May 4 to 7, 2026, this event will show that circularity is becoming increasingly important in light of geopolitical tensions, fragile supply chains, and rising raw material prices. The event program and more than 3,000 exhibitors will demonstrate how recycling, digitalization and new collaboration can help use resources more efficiently and strengthen economic resilience. In this issue, you will find articles about products and solutions presented at IFAT. The internationally active company Lindner will demonstrate its expertise in plant engineering and shredder technology (see page 14). Recycling and treatment technologies will also be presented by MOBA Mobile Automation and weighing systems provider KWS (page 21), McLanahan Corporation (page 22), Sabo S.A. (page 22), Dieffenbacher (page 23), Clearstream Water Treatment (page 29), Trojan Technologies (page 29), RUF Maschinenbau (page 39) and other experts and specialist companies.

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

Yours, Brigitte Weber