Page 13 from: January / February 2012

N E W S

Quote ~ Unquote

‘Alcohol does not solve all of your problems,
but then neither does milk.’

13January/February 2012

For more daily free global recycling news, visit
www.recyclinginternational.com

The ship recycling market in Bangla-
desh rebounded well in 2011 despite
legal barriers faced by the industry for two
years. Furthermore, shipbreakers have
expressed the hope that they will be able
to recycle around 3 million tonnes of
scrap next year following the govern-
ment’s formulation of shipbreaking and
recycling rules. Legal issues have reduced
the shipbreaking sector’s imports of old

vessels since 2009. However, the coun-
try’s 125 shipbreaking yards have import-
ed 145 ships weighing 1.7 million tonnes
in iron plate terms this year.
Imports dropped signifi cantly in 2010 as
environmental groups took court action
over dumping hazardous materials at the
coast and exposing workers to toxic sub-
stances; shipbreakers imported only 75
ships – the lowest fi gure for fi ve years – for
a weight of 1 million tonnes of iron plate.
Mohammed Amzad Hossain Chowdhury,
Managing Director of leading shipbreak-
er Rising Group, has told a Bangladesh
newspaper that the number of vessels
imported this year could have been even
higher if there had been no legal com-
plexity. There were only some 25 ship-
breaking yards three to four years ago
whereas there are now 125 such facili-
ties, generating tens of thousands of new
jobs as the introduction of toxins man-
agement and a natural beaching system
attract more investment to the sector, he
added. www.risinggroup.org

Recovery in Bangladesh
shipbreaking tonnages

The Chinese government is plan-
ning to raise the domestic paper recy-
cling rate from 71.5% to 72.1% by the
end of the current Five-Year Plan in
2015. The country’s annual consumption
of paper and paperboard is expected to
reach 114.7 million tonnes by the same
year – equivalent to annual increases
over the course of the Five-Year Plan of
around 4.6%. Domestic paper and
paperboard output could increase over

the same period to 116 million tonnes,
it is suggested.
The Ministry of Industry and Information
Technology has also announced that
China’s papermaking industry will elimi-
nate at least 10 million tonnes of out-
dated capacity over that same period. The
industry faces resource, energy and envi-
ronmental pressures which will require a
faster restructuring of the sector, accord-
ing to the ministry. www.gov.cn

China targets 72.1% paper
recycling rate by 2015

Almost a quarter of waste electrical
and electronic equipment (WEEE)
thrown out each year by consumers
could be reused, generating more than
£220 million (US$ 340 million) in the
process, according to the Waste &
Resources Action Programme (WRAP).
The UK-based research agency looked
at the potential reuse value for items
disposed of by consumers at household
waste recycling centres and via local
authority-run bulky waste collections,
concluding that there is potential to cre-
ate high resale value from repair, refur-
bishment and open market resale.
‘We found that 23% of all the WEEE
collected at recycling centres could have
been either sold on straight away, or
resold after repair and refurbishment,’
observes WRAP’s project manager for
products and materials Lucy Keal. ‘This
in turn could generate gross revenues of
more than £220 million a year – and
even after taking account of the costs
involved in acquiring the waste items
and repairing or refurbishing them, this
could still realise profi ts of more than
£100 million.’ WRAP’s calculations are

based on annual totals of 348 000
tonnes of WEEE taken to recycling sites,
and a further 149 000 tonnes gathered
in bulky waste collections.
‘As you’d expect, the resale values vary
depending on the categories,’ she says.
‘Smaller items typically have lower reuse
potential but the proportion that is reus-
able has a higher value than other catego-
ries. Large domestic appliances such as
washing machines offer good potential
value, from reuse, use of parts or from
scrap, and make up 61% of the resale
value from the bulky waste collections.
Fridges and freezers offer particularly good
reuse potential if they’re still working.’
Ms Keal adds: ‘This research demon-
strates the crucial importance of promot-
ing the reuse of WEEE. We’re currently
throwing away equipment that’s in per-
fect working order, or could be easily
repaired or refurbished for someone else
to use. Consumers often assume it will
be cheaper to replace items rather than
have them repaired, but it’s clear from
our research that there’s real value to be
had from these discarded goods.’
www.wrap.org.uk

UK research:
WEEE reuse worth millions

Spanish company Tecnalia has
been appointed leader of the 24-month
European EKOPAN project which is
focusing its attention on the reuse of
tyres in the manufacture of items such
as roadway noise barriers. The initiative
corresponds with the principles laid
down in Directive 2006/12/EC on waste,
in which the upcycling and use of waste
as raw materials are encouraged so as
to preserve natural resources.
Use of a porous material like rubber
provides an acoustic barrier with
enhanced noise absorption properties.
In addition to the upcycling aspect, this
approach cuts CO2 emissions through

the partial replacement of the raw mate-
rial used in ordinary barriers with recy-
cled rubber, and also delivers a weight
reduction when compared with tradi-
tional concrete barriers. Specifi cally, the
EKOPAN project is setting out to fi ll the
gap between the development of the
acoustic panel – which was carried out
in a previous research project – and the
mass production and marketing phase.
It is focusing on optimising the manu-
facturing process on an industrial scale,
validating the mechanical and acoustic
properties, and conducting a study that
will facilitate the market penetration of
the new product. www.tecnalia.com

Turning tyres into acoustic barriers

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