Page 15 from: June / July 2013

Surviving
To reflect the challenging business outlook, our coverage of last October’s BIR Conven-
tion in Barcelona was headlined ‘Clouds over

Catalunya’; in Shanghai, it was clear that the

skies overhanging the global recycling industry

had darkened still further in the intervening

seven months. Squeezed margins and even sur-

vival prospects provided points of debate at a

number of the commodity meetings.

But the man rather than the message earned a

deserved share of the limelight at BIR’s first-

ever gathering in Shanghai. After 38 years at the

world recycling organisation, including more

than three decades as the head of its Brussels

secretariat, Francis Veys was attending his final

Convention as BIR director general. He is due

to step down on August 31 and will be suc-

ceeded by Alexandre Delacoux, who joined BIR

last year and is currently its general manager.

To many of those attending BIR Conventions

over the years, the outgoing director general

has been an ever-present. At the General

Assembly in Shanghai, Veys was described by

BIR’s re-elected world president Björn

Grufman as the ‘mastermind’ who merits a

huge measure of the credit for creating the glo-

bal organisation seen today, carrying the indus-

try fight on such important issues as the ‘waste’

definition and overseeing a threefold increase

in its membership.

And yet, as Grufman pointed out, Veys has

‘always been the man behind the scenes and not

the diva in the spotlight’. He has been ‘a perfect

diplomat’ who has developed highly-produc-

tive working relationships with a succession of

different characters within the BIR hierarchy

and wider recycling world.

Veys will continue to work with BIR in an advi-

sory capacity, most notably with responsibility

for its Conventions.

‘Green Fence’
Given that the latest BIR Convention was being

staged in Shanghai, the Chinese government’s

recently-introduced ‘Green Fence’ import

Ranjit Baxi of J & H Sales International in the

UK urged recovered paper exporters to pay

close attention to the often long-established

quality requirements of the individual import-

ing countries. In the case of China, he pointed

out, NEPA authorities’ list of prohibitive mate-

rials dated back to early 2008.

For his part, BIR Non-Ferrous Metals Division

president Robert Stein of Alter Trading in the

USA termed the increased scrutiny of non-

ferrous scrap entering China as ‘a surprise’ to

many exporters ‘because of the suddenness of

its implementation’.

‘No going back’
Although the ‘Green Fence’ initiative is expect-

ed to end later in the year, many experts in

China and beyond believe its impact on the

market has been dramatic and potentially per-

manent. A leading buyer of recovered paper for

the Chinese market has told ‘Recycling Inter-

national’: ‘There is no going back. In quality

terms, this is the new reality when it comes to

exporting recovered fibre to China.’

‘Dramatic’ was also the word used by ITC chair-

man Robert Voss of UK-based Voss Interna-

crackdown was always likely to command sig-

nificant meeting time in Shanghai. Veys

broached the subject at a pre-Convention press

gathering, emphasising that the import con-

trols had been in place for some time but that,

since February, the Chinese government had

been putting an increased emphasis on their

enforcement. He described this approach as

‘absolutely acceptable’ but also underlined the

desirability of adequate warning of such moves.

Cui Lei from the China Certification & Inspec-

tion Group (CCIC) told BIR’s International

Trade Council that the ‘Green Fence’ initiative

was ‘quite normal’ and a reflection of regula-

tions that had been in place for some time.

‘Only a small percentage of your exports are of

poor quality but you need to give this small

percentage your attention or your export efforts

will fail,’ he warned.

‘Hurting’ export markets
Renwu Cai, general manager of Guangzhou

GISE-MBA New Plastics Technology, told the

BIR Plastics Committee that ‘Green Fence’ was

designed to ‘crack down on illegal enterprises’,

but he acknowledged that even law-abiding

companies had been hit by customs clearance

delays and thus additional costs.

At the same meeting, Dr Steve Wong – managing

director of China’s Fukutomi Co. – said ‘Green

Fence’ was forcing many domestic consumers

to pay more for their scrap and was thus reduc-

ing their competitiveness. And in similar vein,

Minnie Kong – associate economist (fibre) at

RISI – told the BIR Paper Division that ‘Green

Fence’ was not only ‘hurting’ export markets in

North America and Europe but also creating

problems, ‘at least temporarily’, for Chinese

paper mills relying on imported recovered fibre.

Despite buying foreign fibre on a scale that can-

not be matched by any other country, mills in

China are anxious not to lose their competitive

position in the import market, she added.

These latter two

speakers both insist-

ed, however, that

China will remain a

dominant force in

the plastics scrap and

recovered paper

import arena.

Also at the Paper

Division meeting,

outgoing president

‘You need to pay
attention to poor

quality exports or your
export efforts will fail.’

Ma Hongchang was presented with a BIR award by its world presi-
dent Björn Grufman for his help in developing a strong bond with the
CMRA.

Dr Alvaro Rodríguez de Sanabria
said collaboration is essential in
dealing with radioactive scrap.

under
still-darker
skies

15June/July 2013

The JMC Recycling Systems team fl ew to Shanghai to promote its
newest technology.

RI-5_BIR intro.indd 15 17-06-13 15:56