Page 9 from: March 2013
Joke of the Month
Business
People
N E W S
9March 2013
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The Chinese secretary for the envi-
ronment Wong Kam-sing has announced
plans to make glass recycling mandatory
in Hong Kong. The proposed legislation
would mainly target wine, beer and other
beverage bottles, he has said.
An estimated 70 000 tonnes of glass
waste is generated throughout Hong
Kong every year. ‘Glass accounts for 3%
of all waste in the city, and only 5% of
it is recycled,’ Wong has observed. ‘We
can’t say it’s insignifi cant – we have to
minimise waste in every aspect.’ He
believes a levy of HK$ 1 on glass bever-
age bottles will cover recycling costs.
Although Wong has not specifi ed which
parties would be required to treat the
glass, environmental groups have sug-
gested importers or retailers would
probably be handed this role. Further
details regarding the legislation are due
to be released in March and the minister
expects new measures to be imple-
mented towards the end of the year.
Given that the money raised would sup-
port local glass recyclers, they have
responded to the new plan with enthu-
siasm, arguing the levy would poten-
tially cancel out transportation costs.
However, the food and beverage trade
has pointed out that other forms of
bottle would escape the levy and that it
would be ‘unfair to single out glass’.
Source: South China Morning Post
Hong Kong raises stakes
on glass recycling
The UK can become a world leader
in the plastics recycling sector – ‘but we
can only do that by changing some of our
approach’, MBA Polymers’ chief executive
Nigel Hunton told a recent recycling event
at Westminster. He went on to suggest
that the government should suspend VAT
on recycled plastics ‘to help stimulate
consumer demand and encourage invest-
ment’ in the UK recycling industry.
‘We currently lie behind leading Euro-
pean countries in terms of the recycling
rates of post-consumer plastic waste,
and in 2011 the UK performance was
just over 20%,’ Hunton observed. ‘Swe-
den, Norway, Germany and France were
all above us.’ Though the challenge his-
torically has been recycling plastics from
complex waste streams, he pointed out
technology enabling effective separation
is already available on the UK market.
With only a few changes, such as switch-
ing the focus from burning for energy
generation to ‘full recovery’, maximised
recycling potential might be within the
UK’s grasp. ‘We need auditing of “down-
stream” overseas plastic waste proces-
sors, similar to domestic processors,’
asserted Hunton. ‘We allow the export
of plastics waste but it needs better and
more vigorous enforcement and check-
ing.’ There is also a need for ‘something
to incentivise the market with legislation
designed to encourage post-consumer
recycled plastics content in new prod-
ucts, such as exemption or a reduced
rate of VAT’, he said.
Such changes would accelerate recycling
across the nation, thus providing a ‘win-
win-win’ for society, the environment and
recycled plastics businesses in the UK.
www.mbapolymers.com
‘Win-win-win’ blueprint
for UK plastics recycling
Recycling braves the cold
Bernd Fleschenberg/Hermann Holstein
TSR Recycling, one of Europe’s leading metals recyclers, has expanded its man-
agement team by installing Bernd Fleschenberg and Hermann Holstein as man-
aging directors at the group’s headquarters in Bottrop, Germany. The former was
previously managing director of Region East at Remondis while the latter was
a board member of ALBA, representing its Waste Operations segment in Ger-
many and Eastern Europe. www.tsr.eu
Roger Hynes
Top plastics recycling company MBA Polymers has installed Roger Hynes as its
new commercial director. Previously, Hynes had been instrumental in delivering
‘rapid global growth’ for CMC Markets where he was a main board director,
helping to grow the company from start-up to a business worth in excess of £1
billion (US$ 1.58 billion) in just 10 years. www.mbapolymers.com
The missing blonde
An airline captain was breaking in a very pretty new
blonde stewardess. The route they were fl ying had
a stay-over in another city, so upon their arrival, the
captain showed the stewardess the best place for
airline personnel to eat, shop and stay overnight.
The next morning as the pilot was preparing the
crew for the day’s route, he noticed the new
stewardess was missing.
He knew which room she was in at the hotel and called her up wondering
what happened to her. She answered the phone, sobbing, and said she
couldn’t get out of her room. ‘You can’t get out of your room?’ the captain
asked. ‘Why not?’ The stewardess cried: ‘There are only three doors in here
– one is the bathroom, one is the closet, and one has a sign on it that says
“Do Not Disturb”!’
Toyota
In a bid to achieve more effective use of resources in batteries, Toyota Motor
Corporation (TMC) has revealed plans to sell an electricity management system
that uses recycled nickel-metal hydride batteries from hybrid vehicles. The system,
which boasts an electricity storage capacity of 10 kWh, will make it possible to
comprehensively control the consumption, storage and discharge of electricity
as well as to increase usage effi ciency, according to TMC.
www.toyota-global.com
BHS/Nihot
US recycling technology expert Bulk Handling Systems (BHS) has acquired Dutch
company Nihot Recycling Technology, which designs and produces air sorting and
separation equipment for the solid waste and recycling industries. Looking back on
a long partnership with Amsterdam-based Nihot, BHS’ ceo Steve Miller proclaims:
‘They are the best at what they do.’ www.bulkhandlingsystems.com
Sponsored by
Sierra International
Machinery, Inc.
www.sierraintl.com
Sierra Europe
Recycling
www.sierraeurope.com
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