Recycling: Raw Materials for the Industry – Even in Difficult Times
Nobody can predict the future. Although, many experts worldwide are trying to analyze the past and the present to formulate their predictions. Nevertheless, from time to time, unexpected events unfold. And nobody could have foreseen their impact on the world before. The most recent example is the Ukraine conflict started by Russia in February this year.
Tom Bird, President of BIR (Bureau of International Recycling), underlined one day after the aggression that his thoughts were with the innocent civilians on both sides of this war – and the BIR members, industry media, and business partners in Ukraine. “It is way too early to understand and measure the magnitude of the present situation, the long-term consequences in Ukraine, and the subsequent impact at global level,” he wrote. “We already see that stock markets are under pressure, and this will no doubt reflect on the global economy.” After two years of the pandemic from which the recycling industry suffered – and prevailed – BIR would do everything possible to provide its members with the appropriate support during these difficult times.
According to Ranjit Baxi, Founder of the Global Recycling Foundation, the threat to oil and gas supplies from Russia due to the war in the Ukraine means to rethink sustainable energy and net-zero emissions. “Power supplies must be maintained, but that puts greater pressure on the search for sustainable alternatives. It is now essential that we put greater effort into using waste to energy and recycling to mitigate what will inevitably be a spike in emissions if we want to prevent further climate change,” he emphasized referring to the readily available resource waste. The Global Recycling Day, organized by the foundation, falls on March 18 each year and aims to promote the vitality of recycling across the globe.
Recycling has many positive impacts. We will look at some of them in this issue: UK-based recycling and trading Romco Group Co Ltd. with its facilities in Africa was able to show that smart investments can lead to success (page 3). Concerning oil, UAE-based Dulsco Group launched a new re-refinery plant, which transforms waste oil into a renewable resource (page 24). There are also a few solutions for recycling used beverage containers regarding PolyAl (page 34 onwards and page 14). The company Haver & Boecker Niagara informs about a customized processing plant for recycling furnace bricks and slag (page 41). And TOMRA Recycling has further strengthened its waste wood sorting solutions with a deep learning-based technology (page 48).
We hope you get a lot of new and useful information from reading this current magazine.
Yours, Brigitte Weber
