Surprise data on environmental benefits of recycling holds up BIR report

Publication of a report showing the positive environmental impact of recycling is being delayed ‘because the numbers are so big’ they are having to be re-checked.

The report, The Environmental Benefits of Recycling, has been commissioned by the Bureau of International Recycling, and co-funded with consultants KPMG, to give the organisation better data when faced by regulators and policy makers.

The work was heralded by BIR president Susie Burrage during the opening session of BIR’s convention in Valencia, Spain. She said the document would provide ‘a long-awaited benchmark with solid data’.

‘This study will strengthen our advocacy and give us the evidence we need to defend and promote the recycling industry’s indispensable contribution to the planet,’ she said.

‘Very big’ numbers

Later, in the final session of the convention, the International Environment Council, BIR’s director-general Arnaud Brunet said the numbers were so ‘very big, very big, very interesting’ that KPMG was being asked to review the data.
‘They are so big and so interesting that we have to double check that they are real. It takes a little bit of time.’

The methodology was explained during the IEC session by two representiatives of KPMG’s circular economy team  in France, dirtector Stephanie Mateos and senior manager Mina Bishop.

Pointing out the study follows others in 2008 and 2016, they said the 2025 edition is broader in terms of materials covered and relevant indicators. Ten materials are included – with lead, stainless steel, textiles, PET and rubber from tyres being added.

As well as energy and CO2 emissions savings, the new study covers water, raw materials and landuse. Mining and the transportation of scrap is also included.

‘Groundbreaking‘

During the Ferrous Division session, Daniel Pietikainen, BIR’s Trade and Environment Policy Officer, referred to results for steel when he called the study ‘groundbreaking’. ‘The data is definitely pointing in a specific direction… we can see that the industry is already fuelling massive environmental savings annually.’

The big unanswered question is when the 250 page document will be published. KPMG’s presentation suggested it could be September but BIR sources suggested a better approach might be to coincide publication with its next convention in Bangkok in late October.

BIR is also preparing to release a position paper on green steel. During her presidency, Burrage has commissioned several such papers which set out BIR’s position on areas impacting recycling and recyclers globally.

Burrage and Brunet also mentioned during a media briefing that the growing relevance of artificial technology (AI) to the recycling industry would be strongly featured on the agenda at Bangkok.

An AI innovation in Valencia, however, was the simultaneous translation of speakers contributions into more than 60 languages using AI software. It was a pilot project into greater access to the proceedings, which are almost totally delivered in English.