Page 3 from: December 2007
V I E W P O I N T
In September and October, Recycling Inter -national carried out a reader survey among its
subscribers and achieved a 15% response. A friend
of mine who works in marketing tells me this is a
very high rate and suggests many of our readers
feel a strong bond with the magazine.
The survey indicates what proportion of our read-
ership is engaged in each of the major recycling sec-
tors. The findings include: non-ferrous scrap 54%,
ferrous scrap 45%, end-of-life vehicles 29%, e-scrap
25%, plastics 22% and paper 15%. Now don’t give
me that ‘Added up, the total comes to more than
100%’ argument. Clearly, some of
the respondents are involved in
more than one field. Furthermore,
the survey shows that our readers
generally occupy high-flying posi-
tions within the recycling indus-
try. Some 53% are at CEO, owner
or Managing Director level, 10%
are Sales Managers, 6% are
Marketing Managers and almost 10% hold the title
of Technical Manager.
From the answers we received, it emerges that
the majority of our 6500 subscribers read almost
the whole of the magazine. We were also able to
calculate that the magazine has a staggering
27 000 pass-on readers. On a scale of one to ten,
with ten being the highest rating, the editorial qual-
ity of Recycling International averaged an 8.4 while
the lay-out was given an 8.3.
Answers to one of the questions really baffled me.
When asked if his or her company or organisation
sent in their news to our editorial team, more than
71% of respondents ticked the box ‘never’, 23% said
‘sometimes’ and only 6% said they always do. Hey
guys, it’s a small investment that may yield huge
rewards! Sending us an e-mail with your news – be
it a new product or service, a key staff appointment,
the opening of a new office or production facility –
brings your company to the attention of more than
33 000 readers in 125 countries worldwide. And
what’s more: it’s free! We don’t charge money for
what we publish on our editorial pages. Of course, if
you want to advertise with us, we don’t mind. We’ll
even welcome you with open arms. So why not do
both: send us your news and start advertising with
us? We’ll love you for that!
The next-to-last question on our reader survey
read: ‘Which issues warrant more coverage in
Recycling International?’ As you can imagine, the
answers varied according to the sector of the recy-
cling business in which the individual respondent
was engaged. But in general, peo-
ple would like to see more country
reports – especially from Asia,
Africa, the Pacific Rim, Eastern
Europe and Russia – as well as fea-
tures about legislative, political
and economic issues. More articles
about electronics scrap, plastics
recycling, research and technology
were also high up on the wish-list. We have taken
note of these views and will try to keep as many of
you satisfied as possible.
The last question on the reader questionnaire
was: ‘In your opinion, what can be done to improve
Recycling International?’ This question in particular
added to the pain in my posterior. How about this for
starters? ‘You can’t improve a Ferrari!’ Or: ‘Your fer-
rous and non-ferrous market reports are outstand-
ing.’ However, one reader urged us to ‘verify details
before printing marketing information – not every-
one is honest.’ Gee, not all recyclers are honest? I’d
never thought of it that way. Another reader told us
bluntly: ‘The magazine is not broken – leave it alone
and don’t try to fix it!’ Personally, the biggest com-
pliment came from a reader who is now my new best
friend. He wrote: ‘We enjoy Manfred’s Viewpoints
very much and also feel very sorry for his wife.’
Now the only thing that’s left is to find a way of
getting rid of those feathers in my ass………
is a month ly busi ness mag a zine for
the inter na tion al recy cling indus try
and is pub lished 10 times a year.
Address
P.O. Box 2098
6802 CB Arnhem
The Netherlands
Delivery Address
Jacob Marislaan 30
6813 JV Arnhem
The Netherlands
Phone +31 26 3120 994
Fax +31 26 3120 630
E-mail:
info@recy clin gin ter na tion al.com
Website:
www.recy clin gin ter na tion al.com
Publisher & Editor
Manfred Beck
[email protected]
Deputy Editor
Gert-Jan van der Have
[email protected]
Magazine Administrator
Helga Fresen
[email protected]
Editorial con sul tant
Ian Martin
[email protected]
Contributing edi tor
Alfred Nijkerk
[email protected]
Contributing edi tor/Consultant tech nol o gy
Prof. Ir. Wijnand Dalmijn, Technical
University of Delft, The Netherlands
Contributing to this issue
Helga Fresen, Gert-Jan van den Have,
Beate Kummer, Ian Martin,
Adam Minter, Alfred Nijkerk, Shi Lili,
Voermans van Bree Photographers,
Art Direction
Inpladi Lay Out Studio
Printing Company
vanGrinsven druk kers Venlo bv
Advertising Sales
Jan Willem Ypma
Phone: +31 343 517 488
Fax: +31 343 510 253
E-mail: [email protected]
Subscriptions
Subsciption rate: € 149 a year
(excl. V.A.T.)
ISSN 1387-8700
Copyright 2007
All rights reserved. No part of this
pub li ca tion may be repro duced or
trans mit ted by any means with out
writ ten per mis sion of the pub lish er.
Member of
I am currently a very happy man although I am experiencing
some difficulty when I walk or sit down. The reason for my pain
is that the magazine has recently been receiving plenty of
compliments, or as the old Dutch saying goes: ‘They have
been sticking lots of feathers in my ass.’
Feathers in my ass
BIR
‘You can’t
improve
a Ferrari!’
Manfred Beck
Editor
3
RI_003 Viewpoint:Viewpoint 06-12-2007 14:56 Pagina 3
