BIR Report

BIR Reports Interest in Copenhagen

According to a press release from the Bureau of International Recycling (BIR), Brussels, the organization received a number of high-profile visitors at the Bright Green Exhibition in Copenhagen this past December, including the Danish Minister for the Environment Troels Lund Poulsen, the Swedish Ambassador in Denmark Lars Grundberg and Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden.

The exhibition, a parallel event to COP15, the United Nations Climate Change Conference, presented environmental technology for the sustainable management of energy and resources, with a particular focus on carbon dioxide (CO2) reduction. With more than 15,000 visitors, including representatives of nongovernmental organizations and others attending COP15, and 170 exhibitors, the Bright Green Exhibition demonstrated public interest in new technologies that answer today’s climate challenges, according to the BIR.

BIR’s stand displayed the various commodities represented by the organization’s worldwide membership, making the case for the environmental benefits of recycling in terms of CO2 emission savings and the reduction of energy and water consumption through the reuse of secondary materials.

BIR Director General Francis Veys says, “BIR’s recent study on the environmental benefits of recycling shows the important contribution our members make to energy, water and CO2 savings.” He says the study shows that the recycling industry is responsible for 500 million metric tons of CO2 reductions annually, which he adds is “a conservative estimate based on sound scientific analysis.”