Page 9 from: Recycling International January/February issue 2023

9recyclinginternational.com | January/February | 2023

INTERVIEW

Policy makers are fundamentally

caught in a linear thought pro-

cess, believes Dutchman and

Austria-based WEEE plastics

expert Chris Slijkhuis. During

the latest International

Electronics Recycling Congress

Salzburg, Austria, Slijkhuis was

presented with the IERC

Honorary Award for nearly two

decades of promoting the inter-

ests of Europe’s e-scrap

(plastics) processing sector.

WERE YOU SURPRISED AT BEING
HONOURED?
‘I was overwhelmed. I’m merely one of
the many cogwheels in the WEEE
recycling clockwork. At the same time,
I believe that the award rewards the
WEEE plastics recycling industry as a
whole and, in that sense, I see it as a
wonderful recognition for the work
that WEEE plastics recyclers have
been doing to get where we are
today.
I must also thank my wife Els. She
gave up her career to accompany me
abroad when we become an expat
family. Els allowed me to spend far
too much time away from home and
even accepted it when I often worked
on at home.’

HOW DID YOU GET INVOLVED IN
THE E-SCRAP INDUSTRY?
‘I was working in the production of
electronics when the WEEE Directive
was introduced. So much of the pro-
duction was relocated to the Far East I
was confronted with a choice to move
there as well or find a different route
for my career.
Then I met Mike Biddle (MBA
Polymers) and Christian Müller-
Guttenbrunn (MGG) in one of our pro-
duction facilities back in 2004 and I
was impressed by their plans to recy-
cle plastics from WEEE in an industrial
process. So when I did have to choose
a new career route, the logical choice
was to contact Mike and that’s how I
got into this fascinating world of
WEEE recycling. It was a completely
new industry with a different language
and culture.’

BIG CHALLENGES, TOO?
‘The development of the WEEE plas-
tics recycling industry is a fascinating
story with many hurdles and problems
but it has its successes. It’s still a
young industry but we have managed
to develop processes and a market for

post-consumer recycled plastics from
WEEE even within high-tech markets.
Today these recycled plastics are used
in high tech applications, even by the
company I used to work for, and mar-
ket demand today is greater than we
can produce. So you have to ask your-
self, why is that the case? Why is the
majority of the WEEE plastics disap-
pearing in undocumented channels,
why are companies reluctant about
investing in this industry, when the
demand for these recycled materials is
there?’

WHAT’S YOUR ANSWER?
‘Many policy makers are fundamental-
ly caught in a linear thought process –
not all, certainly, but many. Yes, there
is a circular action plan. And yes, there
are some reasons to celebrate. But we
also see that waste is often seen as a
problem and not as a potential valu-
able resource. Of course, it is a prob-
lem if not managed correctly. It means
the best way of solving this e-waste
challenge is to make sure that it is
managed in a proper way.’

WHERE DOES IT GO WRONG?
‘I’ve done many presentations about
what I call the non-toxic discussions
regarding restricted flame retardants.
How can it be that the legislator is
imposing ever lower thresholds for
certain substances, so low that they
cannot even be measured within the
daily recycling practices. This is
because the legislators still think of
linear processes. In a linear process,
this is not a problem, you simply don’t
add restricted substances. But in recy-
cling this is a different matter, as we
deal with legacies. For circularity to
develop, we need circular logic
instead of linear thinking.
And from a supply chain point of view,
products, goods, people and money
can move freely across borders but
waste cannot. I still find it amazing

what hurdles are put in place for
WEEE to be moved to compliant recy-
clers, even in Europe and even so
beyond the continent.’

IT’S NOT ALL BAD NEWS, IS IT?
‘Despite all the challenges, it is great
to be part of a completely new indus-
try, in which innovations are taking
place regularly. It’s fantastic to see
that we are now able to produce recy-
cled plastics from WEEE with an
increased relative thermal index,
something that no-one could envisage
only a few years ago. This allows
recycled e-scrap plastics to be used in
new appliances with high operating
temperatures.
It’s also fantastic to see that it’s possi-
ble to develop ever more new post-
consumer recycled plastics from the
wild mix of WEEE plastics. In the past
couple of years, we’ve introduced
three different new plastic types – PC/
ABS, and two new types of PP – with
different fillers produced fully from
e-scrap plastics.’

Fotobijschrift

KADERKOP
??

Chris and Els Slijkhuis. ‘Els allowed me
to spend far too much time away from
home.’

WHAT’S YOUR CELEBRATION?
2023 marks Recycling International’s 25th anniver-
sary. Throughout the year we are shining a light on
recyclers and RI readers who, like us, have some-
thing to celebrate. They may be well-known figures
from major companies or equipment providers – or
those from much smaller operations. We’d particu-
larly like to hear from enterprising recyclers in
those areas of the world that get less media atten-
tion.
So what’s your celebration story in 2023?
Suggestions can be sent to:
[email protected]

08-09_qari25years.indd 9 03-02-2023 14:37