Page 23 from: The 2022 Top 100 issue!

IFAT 2022

23recyclinginternational.com | July/August | 2022

‘SECOND-HAND IS BOOMING’
Christina Elter and
Olav Limbeck look
back on ‘a great
trade show’. Many
new leads and some
exciting projects are
already in the pipe-
line, one of which is
the delivery of a
shredder to a remote
area in Alaska and

another unit to an island in the Caribbean. According to Elter
and Limbeck, the big trends in shredding technology include
electric and multi-purpose (one-for-nearly all) solutions. Not to
mention the fast-growing sales of second-hand, boosted by
delays in delivery of new equipment. ‘For us, second-hand is
absolutely booming,’ says Elter. ‘In the past couple of months
alone we’ve sold some 20 pieces.’

GROWING DEMAND FOR BATTERY SOLUTIONS
For Germany’s
URT Recycling
Technology, IFAT
had a dream
start. German
national tv sta-
tion ARD inter-
viewed URT’s
ceo Peter
Hessler on the
hot topics of

recycling. Hessler
is seeing ‘enor-

mous’ demand for battery recycling (‘it’s crazy’) as well as for
e-scrap. ‘With the life cycle of electronic appliances containing
ever more plastics becoming shorter, we need to speed up
finding even more advanced solutions to tackle these challeng-
es.’

cessed into flakes and shipped to end
users in the UAE. Paper volumes are
much bigger – 600 tonnes per month –
and expected double by 2023. ‘Our
network of paper and packaging col-
lection points at supermarkets and
shopping malls is growing,’ says Al
Aamri.
In Munich, the pair were on the look-
out for equipment. Top of their shop-
ping list was a horizontal baler with
the capacity to press seven tonnes of
cardboard. ‘We prefer to purchase a
second-hand unit. Why not new?
Obviously, the long delivery time. We
realise a used machine nowadays can
be expensive but at least we don’t
have to wait so long.’

FROM GHANAIAN FISHING NETS INTO SWISS WATCHES
Another recycler looking for balers was Venan Sondo of Ghana.
Sondo represents Chaint Afrique, an organisation that promotes
the recycling of fishing nets in the country.
Ghana has a huge fishing industry concentrated on its coast and
around Lake Volta. Discarded nets used to be buried, burned or
thrown back into the sea and the lake, spoiling the environment.
Sondo and his team of volunteers decided to do something about
that and started a network of collection points.
‘By the end of 2022, we hope to have launched our tenth hub,’ he
says with a big smile. Chaint Afrique currently collects one tonne
of fishing nets every week and this is expected to grow to 10
tonnes a week in the next couple of years. The project is already
a big success, according to Sondo. ‘The fishermen are rewarded
for every net they hand over. It’s extra income for them.’
What happens with the nets after collection? ‘That’s an even bet-

ter story,’ replies Sondo. ‘The nets are shipped to Switzerland,
shredded, processed and reused in the fabrication of watches and
sunglasses. With ever-growing volumes, we need good balers to
press them as compactly as possible.’

PAPER AND SOLAR PANELS
Allen Kimambo had come to Munich from Dar es Salaam in
Tanzania. He is ceo of Zaidi Recyclers, a company involved in
paper recycling – some 500 tonnes per month. Since freight rates
have rocketed, Kimambo is eager to find end users closer to
home. Meanwhile he is also exploring new markets in e-scrap and
solar panels.

Venan Sondo.

Peter (right) and Florian Hessler

Allen Kimambo.

20-21-22-23-24-25-26-27_thebestofifat.indd 23 05-07-2022 13:38