Legend Bayram: ‘Scrap recycling is part of my soul’

Murat Bayram, one of the most well-known faces in non-ferrous scrap, has been honoured by the Bureau of International recycling at its Gothenburg, Sweden convention.

Declaring that ‘this industry is more than just a profession – it’s a part of my identity, a part of my soul,’ Bayram became the second recipient of BIR’s Non-Ferrous Legend award, conferred on exceptional individuals who have made a resounding impact on the sector. 

‘Humbling’

Receiving the award from the division’s president Paul Coyte, he described the honour as ‘deeply humbling’ because he thought many other people deserved the award ahead of him – those who had dedicated decades of their lives to defending the industry.

Bayram is director of non-ferrous at European Metal Recycling, president of the German metal recycling association VDM, and is helping the BIR Academy to develop high-quality, accessible learning tools for recyclers.

In an emotional response to warm applause from the hall, Bayram asserted the scrap metals business had given him friendship across continents, cultures, religions, languages – and taught him something powerful.

Real heroes

‘Friends, our metals travel around the world but our values travel with them. Values like respect, trust, responsibility, humanity.

‘The real heroes of this industry are not the people on the stages. They are the people who wake up early, who survive crisis, who solve problems under pressure, who build companies, who create jobs, and who keep materials in circulation so that the future generations still have a future.’

Bayram said recycling is more than recovering materials; it proves things can be renewed instead of destroyed and that value can be recovered instead of wasted.

Responsibility

‘I love this industry so much because recycling is deeply human. Recycling teaches us something beautiful: nothing is finished. Things can come back stronger. Things can have a second life.

‘I see this award as a responsibility to keep fighting for this industry… to fight for free trade for fair competition and commonsense, to keep believing that we need to stay together.’

He concluded by telling his audience: ‘Recycling is not only about metals, it is about people.’