Page 23 from: June / July 2008

23June/July 2008

Birthday party lifts the roof
As BIR itself expressed it: ‘Unique occasions call for unique celebrations.’ And the organisation’s stylish
60th Anniversary Gala Dinner in the Salle des Etoiles of the Monte-Carlo Sporting Club certainly meri-
ted use of the word ‘unique’.
Some 700 guests were treated not only to a high-quality dinner but also to an extravaganza of entertain-
ment culminating in a live performance from global superstars Chico and the Gypsies – the group formed
by Gipsy Kings’ founding member Jahloul ‘Chico’ Bouchikhi. Their stunning musical display lured huge
numbers of revellers on to the dance fl oor.
And the evening reached truly spectacular
heights when the roof of the Salle des Etoiles
slid silently open to allow diners to enjoy a
fantastic fi rework display, with lasers tracing
the name of BIR and its logo on the night sky
over Monte-Carlo. Organisers of BIR’s next big
birthday bash have got a truly astronomical
act to follow!

There was a standing ovation at the General
Assembly for outgoing BIR Treasurer Anthony
Bird of the UK-based Bird Group of Compa-
nies who was confi rmed as a Lifetime Honor-
ary Member of the world organisation. He is
to be succeeded as Treasurer by Bjorn Grufman
of M V Metallvarden AB of Sweden.
During the General Assembly, Fred Nijkerk of
the Netherlands was also awarded a Lifetime
Honorary Membership for his many merits
for the recycling industry.

Exemption call for recyclables
Spontaneous applause was also to be heard at
the IEC meeting when Henrik Harjula of the
OECD’s Environment Directorate/National
Policies Division insisted that he would like to
see non-hazardous recyclable materials
exempted from waste legislation and covered
only by those controls applicable to ‘normal
transactions’. But he added: ‘Unfortunately
we are not there yet, and unfortunately it
could take some time to get there.’
Mr Harjula went on to praise the BIR for pro-
ducing ‘Tools for Environmentally Sound
Management’, a document designed to assist
recovery and recycling companies in imple-
menting an ISO-compliant environmental
management system incorporating the OECD’s
Core Performance Elements. There was strong
evidence to suggest that companies adopting
an ESM-based approach to business would
derive fi nancial benefi t in the long run while
also enhancing their environmental creden-
tials, he said.
The speaker also noted the beginnings of ‘a
paradigm shift from cradle-to-grave to cradle-
to-cradle’, with activities already targeting sus-
tainable materials and closed material cycles.
‘Recycling will be key in this transition to a
new material economy,’ Mr Harjula insisted.

Computer equipment initiative
Dr Katharina Kummer Peiry, Executive Secre-
tary of the Secretariat of the Basel Convention
on the Control of Transboundary Movements
of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal, wel-
comed the positive input of BIR and the US
Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI)
with regard to a partnership initiative resulting
in guidelines on dealing with end-of-life mobile
phones. A similar Basel Convention initiative
covering computer equipment would be
launched shortly, she added.

Fabio Bertelli (left) and Dr. Guido De Santis of Italian magnetic
systems specialist Gauss Magneti.

From left to right: Miguel Clavel and his wife Maria Conget of
Industrias Hydráulicas ‘Moros’, their son Marcos Clavel, and
Guillermo Del Río of Recycling Equipos, all from Zaragoza in Spain.

Alvaro Rodriguez Martinez, outgoing Chairman of BIR’s Internatio-
nal Environment Council (left) and BIR’s Environmental & Technical
Director Ross Bartley in consultation between meetings.

A US gathering of, from left to right, Andy Wahl of Newell Recy-
cling of Atlanta, Bob Stein of Alter Trading and David Chiao of the
Uni-All Group.

Lindsay Millingtong of the British Metals Recycling Association and
Hans Koning of the Dutch Metals Recycling Federation.

John Schofi eld (left) and Jim Jagou of
Harris Waste Management are heading
back home after the show.

Jean-François Equey of Metallo in Belgium
(left) and Herbert Bach of the Switzerland-
based Dietiker Group.

At the BIR exhibition in Monte-Carlo, Björn
Giesbers (left) and Marc van de Wijdeven
of Dutch recycling equipment supplier
MaTech introduced their new MiniSort
Scrap Pro hand-held metals sorter.

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