Contrasts in Recycling Programs: BIR Meets in Berlin

January/February 1989

Meeting for the first time in East Berlin, delegates to the Bureau International de la Recuperation 1988 annual convention learned of the German Democratic Republic’s recycling program--which is carefully controlled by a central organization and involves households and industry alike--and got a sampling of how recyclers in other countries are dealing with increasing waste legislation and environmental pressure.

Environmental issues continued to be in the forefront at the Bureau International de la Recuperation (BIR) fall convention. Nearly 650 delegates from 25 of the 50 member countries attended the international group's meeting in East Berlin, German Democratic Republic (GDR).

Citing the new spirit of glasnost, BIR President Jake J. Farber of the United States expressed the hope that "those barriers to free trade, which exist in all countries East and West alike, will be removed so that we may all benefit from real freedom of movement for all types of recyclable materials."

Michael C.E. Lion of Great Britain, chairman of BIR's Environment Committee, told a press conference that environmental issues were becoming more pressing and that activities by various national governments were creating additional problems for the recycling industry.

Lion said the BIR staff will be increased by one so that additional time can be devoted to environmental issues. He explained that BIR will serve as an international clearing house for environmental issues confronting national recycling industries. The objective of this decision is for BIR to support national recycling industries with timely and coordinated responses to environmental proposals that affect recyclers.

An Uphill Fight

Dave Singerman of Canada, chairman of the Nonferrous Technical Committee, discussed the uphill fight being waged to exclude recyclable materials from the never-ending stream of new waste management regulations. "I cannot remind you often enough," he told committee members, "that many of the metal-bearing by-products that most of us have handled safely for years and years are now included in waste management regulations, which will and do restrict the free flow of these products.

"If we are not successful in our battle, we shall have a lot to put up with if we intend to continue buying and selling these familiar items," he continued, listing possible requirements such as special insurance, special transport permits that may require special vehicles, special inspection of vehicles just prior to transport, and loss of freedom of one's choice of consumers. Singerman added that "there may be long delays in international shipments, as governments from exporting countries request permission of entry from importing countries.

"Until this problem is resolved, each day each of us has to ask ourself what we have done today to improve the situation," Singerman advised. "If we fail to do our part, our industry is in danger of being strangled by regulations of well-meaning do-gooders. You may say to yourself, Who will replace us? Who will want to replace us! Out there are many new waste management organizations waiting in the wings whose bread and butter is ail these new regulations."

Paper Stock and the GDR

Jean-Pierre Lehoux of France, president of the Paper Stock Division, reported to division members and guests that in 1987 a total of 69 million metric tons (mmt) of waste paper was used as raw material worldwide. This tonnage equals 32 percent of world paper production. He said that BIR estimates 1988 waste paper consumption at more than 73 mmt. This means that for the 1990s, he continued, "a further increase in waste paper consumption can be expected as numerous paper mills decide to increase their capacity for waste paper."

Dr. Arnold, economist at the Heidenau cellulose and paper collective, German Democratic Republic, spoke on the collection and sorting of waste paper in the GDR.

He explained that virgin sources could not meet all the growing paper needs of the GDR, making the increased use of recycled paper an important part of the country's strategic policy planning. Some grades of paper in the country are being made entirely from waste paper, he said. Since 1976, newsprint has been produced from waste paper through deinking plants using a small amount of chemicals but with a bleach that results in a much brighter paper.

Arnold said that more than 50 percent of all the paper in the GDR is recycled, adding that waste paper collection has increased two-and-one-half-times since the 1970s. He calculates that, of the paper produced, 70 percent becomes waste and 30 percent either is destroyed or is in longer use. In other words, he said, 65 percent of the paper that can be recycled is recycled. Arnold believes an increase in recycling is possible by changing the way paper is made, and noted that the GDR is conducting numerous research projects to increase waste paper recycling.

Maximum Benefit

Hans-Joachim Schmidt, general director of the VE Kombinat, the GDR state recycling organization, stated that the reclamation of secondary materials is maximized in the GDR in order to gain maximum social benefit. (The population of the GDR is 16.5 million.) He said his country has always given high priority to reclamation of waste in homes and industry.

In private homes, all waste material is separated. Government at all levels is responsible for collecting wastes, he said, noting that the best collectors are children. In the GDR there are 16,500 purchasing collection centers and 40,000 containers and other collection devices. He added that 8.5 out of every 10 newspapers sold are recycled.

For industry, the GDR has established the "polluter pays" principle: the polluter either reuses the waste generated or finds a way for it to be recycled. If a company cannot recycle certain wastes, it must contact Schmidt's organization. If the VE Kombinat is unable to recycle the waste, the company must get government permission to dispose of the waste, and the government imposes a high disposal cost. The high cost to dispose of these wastes is an incentive to find a way to minimize the waste produced and develop clean technologies, Schmidt said.

Government policy is to use materials in a closed system, since government reuses the waste generated, Schmidt explained. He said the GDR runs the recycling business along commercial lines. The country is divided into 14 districts, each of which organizes its collection through small collectors, private and state. A fixed price is established for each commodity. The district must sell its material where it is directed to by the central offices, which direct the stream of commodities. Companies must tell the government how much waste they generate and what it is.

The total amount of materials to be recycled in the GDR will increase from 30 mmt to 35-36 mmt in 1990, Schmidt said. This tonnage will cover 14 to 15 percent of the raw materials required by industry in the GDR. The ferrous industry obtains 68 percent of its raw materials from scrap. Lead production is 100 percent scrap-based.

Collecting and Processing Plastics

Chairman of the Plastics Roundtable, Hans-Joachim Brauer of the Federal Republic of Germany, introduced roundtable guest speaker Dr. Hauck, director of the Institute for the Recyclable Materials Industry in Berlin, GDR, saying that the GDR can be considered a model in recycling plastics.

Hauck explained that most thermal plastic waste generated in production is recycled as quickly as possible. The collection of thermal plastic waste from households began in 1983. At collection centers, one East German mark is paid for each kilogram of material. In 1984, 4,500 metric tons were collected and by 1987 that increased to 8,000 metric tons.

He said the waste materials are shredded to reduce volume and transport costs. He added that processing plastic scrap is not a problem-making an attractive product is the challenge. The various products made contain from 50 to 100 percent reclaimed materials. He said the cost is a little less than primary material.

Pressures on Ferrous

Ferrous Division president Anthony P. Bird of the United Kingdom reported to attendees of the division's meeting that, since BIR's May meeting in Amsterdam, "the international ferrous recycling industry has enjoyed a period of high demand for its products and a price structure which has allowed both the ferrous processor as well as the consumer to operate in the main profitably."

He said the "demand for ferrous raw materials looks buoyant for the next six months. Most steel works and foundries have healthy order books until the end of the first quarter of 1989."

However, Bird said, "the environmental pressures which are being inflicted on BIR members, principally in the United States and Western Europe, are adding considerable costs and, in some cases, causing supply problems. These pressures have been extremely severe on shredding operations, creating problems within the plants and in the disposal routes for the waste residue. Unless these problems can be resolved sensibly, a major supply of processed materials to the world's steel mills will be jeopardized."

He said that "in the tremendous wave of legislation against waste, the reclamation and recycling industries have suffered unfairly due to the misguided and confused belief within the authorities that scrap is waste. The word 'recycling,' however, carries enormous weight at the moment. It is the 'in' word environmentally and is treated with great respect by governmental and environmental bodies alike. There is no other industry than ours which has more right to claim the kudos and the prestige that the word 'recycling' includes."

Stainless Steel and Special Alloys

Stainless Steel and Special Alloys Committee chairman Barry Hunter of the United States called on Robert Fish, assistant editor of Metal Bulletin's nonferrous department, to report the highlights of the Third International Stainless Steel Conference, held in Rome in early October and organized by Metal Bulletin. In addition, James E. Fowler, publisher and editorial director of Scrap Processing and Recycling, reported on the annual Nickel/Stainless Steel/Special Metals Roundtable sponsored by the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries in mid-October in Pittsburgh.

Nonferrous: Threats and Targets

Michael C.E. Lion, president of the Nonferrous Metals Division, reported that activity in nonferrous materials was "extremely strong," due primarily to "extremely buoyant prices pertaining to the majority of nonferrous base metals." He said demand from consumers of nonferrous scrap has remained good and the current near-term outlook is also encouraging.

In addition to the marketplace, he went on, the "other major area of continuing anxiety and concern is the encroaching impact of environmental legislation affecting our membership, particularly legislation and edicts issued-by the many sovereign government, supragovernmental, and international agencies."

Lion said the Nonferrous Metals Division "considers it of paramount importance to continue to protect our members from the threat to their viability and profitability wherever it arises, be it from legislation, inhibition of imports and exports and artificial trade barriers, or other forms of intrusive legislative control."

Gerhard Gessert, director of forecasting and collection at VEB Kombinat Metallaufbereitung, Halle, GDR, spoke on the methods for collecting and recycling nonferrous metals in the GDR.

Gessert said laws governing the collection and processing of scrap apply to all manufacturing companies. He explained that producers of scrap in the GDR must make arrangements to recycle their scrap. This includes home scrap generated in mills and prompt scrap generated by fabricators. He said that collection centers are given annual targets and the recycling of scrap is an integrated part of production and consumption.

When new products are being designed, Gessert continued, scrap management is an integral part of the overall planning and management function, side by side with production and maintenance. The secondary materials officer in each plant prepares a plan for the best use of the scrap generated.

Gessert said prices of scrap in the GDR do not depend on supply and demand. The last time prices were fixed in the GDR was 10 years ago. •

-James E Fowler

Meeting for the first time in East Berlin, delegates to the Bureau International de la Recuperation 1988 annual convention learned of the German Democratic Republic’s recycling program--which is carefully controlled by a central organization and involves households and industry alike--and got a sampling of how recyclers in other countries are dealing with increasing waste legislation and environmental pressure.