Page 32 from: Recycling International May/June issue 2023

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ups are popping up everywhere.
Market outlooks report this sector was
worth US$ 1.7 billion in 2021 and could
reach US$ 10 billion by 2031.

#15: THERE’S MORE TO TYRES
Tyre recycling is a growing recycling
segment with exciting projects explor-
ing new applications for recovered car-
bon black. Recycling rates in the US
and Europe are at 71% and 92%
respectively. Recycled roads is one of
the biggest successes so far, although
the use of rubber infill in artificial turf
pitches has been subject to heavy criti-
cism from interest groups and legisla-
tors. The EU has proposed a ban, cit-
ing environmental and health and safe-
ty concerns. ‘Nonsense,’ according to
many recyclers.

#16: TO BURN OR NOT TO
BURN?
There is always much discussion about
what counts as ‘true’ recycling. There
are strong lobbies for and against

A grave concern was said to be the
India’s history of exorbitant duties
(upwards of 30%) on both ferrous and
non-ferrous scrap, the result of taxes,
rebates and more taxes. Factor in cash
payments and a largely informal sector
and you’ve got a perfect recipe for cor-
ruption. ‘If India cuts the duty by half,
it will also cut corruption by half,’
Minter was told – off the record, of
course – during his visit to various
scrap yards in Mumbai.
Meanwhile, the activities at the Alang
shipbreaking yards are said to be wind-
ing down following negative media
attention over the years. Recently, the
yards at Alang witnessed one of their
lowest turnovers in over 12 years: 131
ships were beached there in 2022,
compared to 209 ships in 2021. The
busiest year for Alang was 415 vessels
in 2012.

#18: GOODBYE OCEAN WASTE
Many entrepreneurs are backing efforts
to tackle plastic pollution by means of

beach clean-ups, mobile recycling
technology or collection schemes
deployed in the big blue sea. One
name that stands out is Dutch icon
Boyan Slat. The founder of The Ocean
Cleanup is working with the United
Nations to scale up solutions now
being tested in rivers of the Dominican
Republic.

#19: MAPPING ILLEGAL WASTE
The global recycling community is a
big place, where things can get lost.
This goes for both plastic scrap and
end-of-life vehicles to name two nota-
ble examples. Car recyclers have been
reporting ‘missing tonnage’ for years
while environmental groups claim con-
tainers full of ‘low-grade plastic waste’
are frequently making their way around

‘RECYCLING IS SO UNDERVALUED’
Looking back to the early days of Recycling International, there is no
escaping Peter Mathews. This UK scrap metal trader had already been
a friend of Manfred Beck for some years when Beck told him he was
thinking of launching a new recycling publication. ‘At the time, recy-
cling magazines were changing some of their focus and a glossy new
approach to our industry was sorely needed. So I said: “What a great
idea, I’ll support you as and when needed.”’
Eventually, the first edition was published and Mathews received his
copy. ‘Wow! So much hard work had been put in by Manfred, Helga
and their advertising guru, Jan-Willem. Impressive stuff which is con-
tinuing under the leadership of Martijn today, although we continue to
read “young” Manfred’s thoughts on a regular basis.’
Mathews has seen great changes in our industry during the past 25
years. ‘From EU legislation to the European definition of waste and
the Chinese licensing system, to name but a few. All reported and
informed through Recycling International.’
Now retired (‘well, semi’), Mathews still finds himself involved in this
‘impressive and very interesting’ industry. ‘Recycling is so underval-
ued. Recycling International can only help develop the knowledge
that is so sorely needed by those who should understand that the
future of our planet rests, in part, in having a robust, efficient global
market for recyclable commodities.
‘I’ve seen so much technical development and so many new faces that
the future looks healthy for us all, young and old – or, I should say,
older. And Manfred still owes me a beer.’ Peter Mathews.

May 2015, No.4

Highlights from
ISRI’s Convention &
Expo in Vancouver

Illegal exports
challenge Europe’s
vehicle recyclers

Who will feed
Germany’s hungry
paper mills?

Tyre recycling in Europe:
the case of the ‘missing’
arisings

The Gulf
Region

M
a

y 2
0

15 , N
o

. 4

Special

RI 4-Cover spread.indd 1 30-03-2023 15:21Naamloos-3 1 2

waste-to-energy. The same goes for
facilities specialising in fuel derived
from waste. Supporters believe both
methods are well-suited to heavily
contaminated mixed waste streams.
At any rate, alternatives to mechanical
recycling are gaining momentum, par-
ticularly from the chemical recyclers.
Meanwhile, the global waste-to-ener-
gy market was valued at US$ 32.1 bil-
lion in 2021 and is projected to hit
US$ 44.6 billion by 2029. Meanwhile,
the waste-to-fuel market was worth
US$ 223 million in 2021 and will is
likely to be close to US$ 3 billion by
2030.

#17: NO PLACE LIKE INDIA
‘India will not be the next China, it will
be the next India,’ wrote Asia scrap
specialist Adam Minter in a 2006 coun-
try report. The nation’s bold ambitions
were visible in the early 2000s, though
workers were still pulling 12-hour shifts
and rarely wearing regulation uniforms
and hard hats.

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