‘Green Fence’ has frustrated investments, says Bollegraaf

Europe – China’s Green Fence quality controls have put a brake on investments among recycling industries worldwide and in Europe in particular, according to Heiman Bollegraaf, president of Netherlands-based Bollegraaf Recycling Solutions.

‘Clearly, there is a certain fear in the market,’ he told Recycling International at last week’s Pollutec exhibition in Paris. ‘Companies and managers ask themselves ”What will restrictions in China and across Asia bring us?” Under the current market conditions, recyclers simply don’t want to make decisions too fast on buying a new machine that might be useless. In other words, ”Will it be worth the investment?”’

In the long run, Green Fence-like restrictions and the call for quality improvements in general will bring advantages and challenges for recycling equipment suppliers, especially for producers of advanced sorting applications such as Bollegraaf. ‘We notice a growing trend that better and more sophisticated solutions are needed to meet the latest requirements,’ he said. ‘Obviously, this will boost our business.’

Bollegraaf Recycling Solutions was one of nearly 1200 exhibitors at this year’s Pollutec event. An estimated 25 000 professionals visited the Paris trade show. The 2014 Pollutec exhibition will take place on December 2-5 in Lyon, France.