July/August 1988
Amid mostly positive market reports were repeated calls for change during the May Bureau International de la Recuperation event.
Concentration on environmental concerns prevailed at the May 23-27 Bureau International de la Recuperation convention. Held in Amsterdam, the city of BIR's founding, the event marked the organization's fortieth anniversary. Approximately 1,100 delegates and 300 guests from the majority of BIR's 50 member countries celebrated the growth of their federation from its three-member start-up size and shared ideas for dealing with the increasingly difficult environmental issues threatening the recycling industry worldwide.
Acknowledging in his Ferrous Division meeting report that, internationally, steel industry order books are full--so demand for scrap should stay strong--for the rest of the year, Division President Anthony P. Bird, of Great Britain, discussed legislation in America and Western Europe designed to restrict recycling operations, controls that could substantially raise the costs of meeting scrap demand. He said the controls are counterproductive to the industry's major role of preserving the environment, a role that recyclers need to point out to the public. Bird called for increased involvement in public relations to get private recyclers' message across.
Ferrous meeting guest speaker O.H.A. van Royen, chairman of the board of Hoogovens Groep B.V., The Netherlands, discussed the qualitative aspects of technological development in steel processing.
At the Shredder Operator's Committee meeting, Rainer Brenzinger, marketing manager at Hoesch A.G., in West Germany, discussed the growing trend toward plastics substitution in automobile production: "Gradually," he said, "plastic is eating away at the steel in the motor car."
Chairman Barry Hunter gave a favorable U.S. report to the Stainless Steel and Special Alloys Committee, noting a strong and steady production rate and a firm scrap market.
Guest speaker Johannes P. Schade, president of the Nickel Development Institute, in Toronto, Canada, addressed international markets for stainless steel and their immediate effects on nickel markets. "More than half of all primary nickel produced in the free world is consumed in stainless steel production," he said. "Every time the stainless steel industry coughs, the nickel industry contracts pneumonia."
The group was also addressed by Goran Laren, purchasing manager, Kloster Speedsteel A.B., in Sweden. In discussing high-speed steel production, grading, and applications, and the importance of scrap in the process, Laren said, "As a technician, I want scrap that offers easy handling, quality, security, low processing costs, and high productivity."
Nonferrous Metals Division President Michael Lion, of Great Britain, summarized the national nonferrous reports at the division's meeting. "Levels of activity remain excellent ... and the industrial outlook for the balance of 1988 looks reasonably good," he said. He noted significant volatility in the market, but said, notwithstanding the resulting difficulties to BIR members, "the future outlook for our business is significantly better than it's been for a number of years."
Lion discussed laws and regulations, particularly those developing in the United States, that concern private recyclers around the globe. Expressing outrage with legislative actions that affect the recycling industry but that are taken without consulting the industry for input, Lion said, "We must make it clear to the politicians and legislators that they cannot do without us ... they must cooperate with us."
Lion described what he thought was a prime example of how recyclers can and will start to make their presence "clearly felt." He said that in one part of the United States recently, legislation was interpreted in a way that made the handling of white goods a source of potential liability. As a result, affected processors stopped taking the items. Said Lion, "When it started piling up in the streets, [the authorities] discovered how much they need us."
Jean-Marie Junger, of the European Commission's Environment Directorate, in France, was one of the guest speakers at the division meeting. He discussed waste management in the EEC, pointing out BIR's opportunity to get involved in policy planning and encouraging members to use their lobbying rights to talk to the authorities.
Mike Brown, of the London Metal Exchange, and David Halperin, of the Commodity Exchange, also addressed the division.
The Technical Committee of the Nonferrous Division hosted a demonstration of a rapid casting method for recycling aluminum. F.J. Kievits and W.H. Kool, of the Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands, presented the rapid solidification processing technique.
Jean-Pierre Lehoux, of France, president of BIR's Paper Stock Division, opened their meeting by reporting that the international market for paper stock is stable, but the profits are limited and market growth is needed.
Ir. E.FM. Driessen, of The Netherlands, managing director of Roermond Papier B.V., delivered a presentation on the development of waste paper as an essential material in the paper and cardboard manufacturing process. Highlighting the cost savings inherent with use of waste paper--especially energy, waste disposal, water treatment, and transportation cost savings--Driessen questioned why so much of it still is discarded. He called for changes in the waste paper industry to increase use of this commodity.
Division Vice-President Philip A. Alpert reported that 1987 was a record year for the American paper stock industry, attributing its strength mostly to the "robustness of the U.S. paper mill industry and the return of the dollar to the international exchange levels prevalent at the beginning of the decade, prior to the big rise." He noted unusual strength in mixed paper and mentioned that the only grade that had not shown sustained strength throughout the year was news.
At the Plastics Roundtable, Chairman Manfred Sanne, of Germany, described generally favorable international market conditions. "It's now possible to [trade] practically all grades," he reported, "and at relatively good prices."
Textiles Division President Carla Schoenfeld, also of Germany, had the opposite report to make: Low worldwide prices for raw materials and the decline in the U.S. dollar, she said, have resulted in a market where it is no longer economically feasible to use textile waste as a substitute for raw materials. "We have to do something new" to deal with the crisis, said Schoenfeld. "We can't expect conditions to change."
Jake J. Farber, BIR president, opened the convention's general assembly. He encouraged members to unite in the face of new challenges to the recycling industry, challenges that will "force our companies, national associations, and the BIR to undergo tremendous structural changes in order to respond. … If we stand still, we will not survive." Farber noted that one of BIR's major purposes is to provide information, especially now, in an age of technology and change. "If our industry wishes to resolve its difficulties on an international level," he said, "we must seek and provide the best and most current information necessary for our membership to operate in this highly technical environment." He added that BIR is also a voice for recyclers who want their industry to be better known and understood, and he appealed to members to get involved with the organization.
Guest speaker at the assembly was Joseph Luns, former secretary general of NATO and former Dutch minister for foreign affairs. Luns spoke on the evolution of political relationships between the East and the West since Mikhail Gorbachev came to power. He applauded both sides for their recent actions toward arms reduction, but said this is only one small step toward improving relations. He said overall attitudes may be a long time in changing, and he warned that, although conditions in the Soviet Union are becoming more liberalized, this is not necessarily the case with foreign policy. He complimented the U.S. on informing leaders of the Western Alliance about activities in America.
Farber presented BIR gold medal awards to Hugo Nijkerk and Marcel Doisy. Nijkerk founded BIR in 1948, after recognizing the importance of recycling in post-World War II Europe; he was BIR president from 1954-68. The late Nijkerk's wife, Cobi Nijkerk, accepted on his behalf. Marcel Doisy began working with Nijkerk's company in 1937 and began his association with BIR at its inception. He was appointed executive secretary of the federation in 1970. During his term, BIR's contacts with industry and government were strengthened significantly.
--Gerry Romano Spruell and Susan Crissinger