B I R W A R S A W
Recycling International • November 2007 29
Alvaro Rodriguez Martinez, Chairman of the
International Environment Council (IEC), and Kinga
Zgrierska of Poland.
Prof. Wijnand Dalmijn of the Delft Technical University
in the Netherlands (left) and Joaquim de Souza Gomes
of Gerdau Steel in Brazil.
An orchestra and choir entertained BIR delegates during the welcome
reception.
Franh Geelle and Miriam Beltrami of Italian metals
sorting machinery producer SGM are having fun at the
BIR Convention in Warsaw.
Yolande Joret (left) and Elisabeth Christ of the BIR sec-
retariat in Brussels are busy cutting a piece of the
special BIR cake.
From left to right: Stuart Cottam of Australia-based Sims
Group; Peter Mathews of Black County Metals in the UK;
and Gary Mintz of American Iron and Metal in Canada.
Drinking a glass together at BIR’s welcome reception are (from left to right): Michael Oppenheimer of AMC PLC/ Brookside
Metals of the UK; Recycling International’s Editorial Consultant Ian Martin; and Robert Stein of US-based Alter Trading.
Future BIR Conventions
2008
June 2-4
Monte-Carlo, Monaco
The Fairmont
Grand Hotel
October 30-31
Düsseldorf, Germany
Hilton Hotel
2009
Spring
Dubai (tentative)
Autumn
Amsterdam
Nether lands
(tentative)
BIR Environmental & Technical Director Ross Bartley
(left) and BIR Director General Francis Veys.
across all states, to set up training/exchange pro-
grammes covering shipment inspections, and to
maintain/improve the EU’s network of inspectors.
Initial inspections carried out under IMPEL
covered approaching 1500 transports, of which
310 related to transfrontier shipments of materials
designated as ‘waste’. Of these, administrative
irregularities were found in 14% of cases while a
further 13% of the consignments were found to be
‘illegal shipments with serious risk’.
Lindsay Millington of the British Metals
Recycling Association urged enforcement agencies
to focus on exporters who ‘blatently’ flaunt ship-
ment regulations rather than those who commit
minor administrative infringements. IEC
Chairman Alvaro Rodriguez Martinez of Energis
SA in Spain also underlined the importance of
focusing limited enforcement resources on major
environmental transgressions involving truly haz-
ardous wastes. ‘We shouldn’t confuse waste with,
for example, the main raw materials used by the
steel industry,’ he said.
Mr Wielenga accepted enforcement agency
resources were limited but added: ‘There are con-
cerns with non-hazardous materials, so we can’t
just focus on hazardous materials.’
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