Page 15 from: May 2015
N E W S
15May 2015
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In the USA, four city of Atlanta workers
have been arrested and charged with
stealing over US$ 65 000 worth of metal
and selling it at recycling centres. Each has
been charged with misdemeanour theft
by taking, according to the local police
department’s spokesman Glennis Curry.
Police claim one of them had visited
local recycling centres some 176 times
since 2008 to sell US$ 61 645 worth of
equipment stolen from various Depart-
ment of Public Works’ facilities, while
another man was charged with selling
stolen metal worth US$ 3430 to recy-
cling centres between 2008 and 2014.
The thefts are said to form part of a
larger Atlanta Police Department inves-
tigation that broke on March 23 when
two long-time Atlanta workers were
taken into custody. ‘The arrest of these
individuals is the result of a continued,
co-ordinated commitment toward the
eradication of theft,’ says department
commissioner Jo Ann J. Macrina. ‘In
addition to more security enhancements
to tighten inventory protocol, we are
sending a serious message that the
administration is committed to protect-
ing the city’s property.’
Arrests made over
metal thefts in Atlanta
‘Over 41 million tonnes of refrigera-
tors, televisions, washing machines and
other electrical appliances were thrown
away last year,’ says a report from the
United Nations University (UNU). This
represents a record amount of e-scrap
that is up from just under 40 million
tonnes in 2013.
‘The bulk of global e-waste in 2014
(almost 60%) was discarded kitchen,
laundry and bathroom equipment,’ the
UNU points out. ‘Personal information
and communication technology (ICT)
devices – such as mobile phones, per-
sonal computers and printers – account-
ed for 7% of e-waste last year.’
All of this e-waste ‘represented some US$
52 billion of potentially reusable resourc-
es, yet little of it was collected for recovery,
or even treated/disposed of in an environ-
mentally sound manner’. Less than a sixth
is thought to have been properly recycled
or made available for reuse, it is added.
According to the report, two countries
alone – the USA and China – discarded
nearly one-third of the world’s total
e-scrap in 2014. Asia ranked as the
world’s biggest e-scrap generator with
16 million tonnes (3.7 kg per inhabitant)
while Oceania generated the lowest
quantity although its 600 000 tonnes
equated to 15.2 kg per inhabitant, the
same average as Europe.
E-scrap volumes are expected to rise by
21% to 50 million tonnes in 2018. A
positive is that nearly 4 billion people
across the globe are now covered by
related national laws although not all of
them address the full range of e-scrap
and not all are enforced, it is stressed.
‘Worldwide, e-waste constitutes a valu-
able “urban mine” – a large potential
reservoir of recyclable materials,’ com-
ments UN under-secretary-general David
Malone, rector of UNU. ‘At the same time,
the hazardous content of e-waste consti-
tutes a “toxic mine” that must be man-
aged with extreme care.’ www.unu.edu
UNU underlines scale
of e-scrap rise
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In memoriam:
Professor Wijnand Dalmijn
After a long illness, recycling expert Profes-
sor Wijnand Dalmijn passed away on April 12
at the age of 74.
He studied at the Technical University of Delft in the
Netherlands, from where he graduated in mineral
processing. Between 1968 and 1973, he specialised
in this fi eld and was appointed professor in 1991.
Dalmijn gained considerable practical experience at a municipal waste
recycling plant in the Netherlands where he evaluated and developed recy-
cling opportunities for metals and other materials. He went on to advise
German companies Metallgesellschaft and Eumet, where he developed
various technical facilities for scrap metals identifi cation and separation. He
was also an advisor to companies such as Huron Valley Steel, Newell Indus-
tries, US Zinc Corporation and Alcan International.
Dalmijn also served on the board of many associations and institutes. Among
others, he was a Steering Committee and Lecture Committee member of the
International Automobile Recycling Congress, of which he was chairman
from 2009 to 2013. He also served for many years as a technology consultant
to Recycling International.
Dalmijn gained an international reputation for his work in developing systems
for the mechanical separation of metals and glass, including eddy current,
laser, image processing/colour sorting and electrostatic techniques.
With Wijnand’s passing, we lose a sympathetic colleague, a dedicated
researcher and a dear friend. We wish his wife Ineke, children, family and
friends strength at this diffi cult time.
Manfred Beck
Publisher, Recycling International
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