Page 21 from: November 2015

19November 2015

well bring these under one umbrella, he sug-
gested. ‘We really need a global day for recycling
and we should claim our leading position in this
as a whole industry,’ stressed Baxi.
Speaking to Recycling International, he con-
firmed it was his ambition to have ‘the first
International Day of Recycling taking place in
the year 2016 or 2017’.

Circular Economy package
Quite appropriately, the Circular Economy was
a recurring theme at the latest BIR world conven-
tion. Having ditched its previous Circular Econ-

omy package, the general expec-
tation is that the European
Commission will unveil a more
ambitious replacement on
December 2 this year.
Speaking at the meeting of the
BIR’s International Environ-
ment Council, Emmanuel Kat-
rakis – secretary general of the
European Recycling Industries’
Confederation (EuRIC) –
echoed the BIR world president
in underlining that, through
recycling, ‘we save a lot of energy and we save a
lot of CO2 emissions’. For this reason, he hoped
the new Circular Economy package would be
‘market-driven’ and would ‘make sense for the
recycling industry’. And he continued: ‘Recy-
clers are turning waste into new resources and
putting them back into the economy. This is the
key link of the Circular Economy, and now what
we hope is that this key link will also be reflect-
ed in the legislation.’

Regulatory ‘distortions’
Having offered EuRIC’s support for a ban on
the landfilling of recyclables and for measures
that progressively phase out incineration of
unsorted waste, Katrakis called for a
correction of the regulatory ‘distor-
tions’ that place ‘a higher cost bur-
den on downstream users of recy-
cled materials’, as well as for a
reassessment of the large volume
of ‘red tape’ attaching itself to the

recycling industry. He also
backed the case for stimulat-
ing markets for recyclable
materials and for greater con-
sideration of recycling at the
product design stage – some-
thing which he understood
would be covered in the
European Commission’s
package. Recyclers also need-
ed ‘free and fair access’ to the
international markets, he
added, ‘so we get a fair price

in Europe and outside of Europe’.
A spokesman for the convention’s host country
was certainly anticipating an ‘ambitious’ Circular
Economy package from the Commission.
Jaromír Manhart, director of the waste manage-
ment department of the Czech ministry of envi-
ronment, also noted that the 10-year waste man-
agement strategy adopted by his government last
year was certainly not lacking in ambition. One
of its headline goals is for the Czech Republic to
boost its material recovery rate for household
waste from less than 35% last year to 60% by
2024.

BIR meets in Prague

Next year’s BIR world recycling
conventions & exhibitions

Berlin, Germany:
May 30-June 1

Amsterdam, the Netherlands:
October 24-25

Emmanuel Katrakis: free and fair
access to global markets a must.

Recycling International’s Helga Fresen cheered up
the masses in Prague with the launch of a new, yearly
magazine, Recycling Technology.