Recycling markets during the past several months have been darkened by the shadows of a world economy in recession. These economic problems were sweeping the world, as the difficulties in the North American banking sector spread to other countries. For some recyclers, business ground to a halt, and desperation was the normal course of business.
However, as the spring convention season wrapped up, the clouds appeared to be lifting, according to some attendees of WasteExpo and the Bureau of International Recycling (BIR) 2009 World Recycling Convention & Exhibition. While attendance at both shows was down from the recent past, attendees shared a sense of optimism about secondary materials markets going forward.
GOOD VIBRATIONS
This year’s WasteExpo convention, held in Las Vegas June 8-11, was billed as the largest show for the waste management industry in North America. The conference targets the recycling industry as well as the overall solid waste industry. The trade show floor typically hosts more than 500 exhibitors covering the gamut of products and services for the solid and hazardous waste, recycling and composting industries.
While the exhibit hall is the focal point of the convention, WasteExpo also includes a number of educational tracks on a myriad of topics. For this year’s show, WasteExpo put together four tracks (recycling, green management, accounting and financing and labor and employment) and a series of workshops that touched on a host of issues that concern recyclers.
Featured under the recycling heading were:
• A session on electronics recycling, where a number of speakers discussed and analyzed laws and trends that are having an impact on the electronics recycling segment of the industry;
• A session on safety at recycling facilities;
• A session on markets and trends for metals and glass;
• A session concerning where paper recycling markets are heading;
• A session that looked at the top trends in the plastics recycling industry; and
• A session examining current and potential markets for construction and demolition debris and impediments to increased recycling of these materials.
Back in the exhibit hall, several exhibitors noted that interest in equipment acquisitions seemed to be picking up, with some attachment firms, systems companies and baler manufacturers noting that they were seeing a spike in orders for equipment. Although anecdotal, several exhibitors said they were doing more quoting as recyclers, some of which have been holding off on new purchases, were anticipating a business pickup, perhaps as soon as later this year. The pent-up demand helped to lessen concerns that some vendors had earlier this year.
WasteExpo 2010 will be May 3-6 in Atlanta.
POST-COLLAPSE
Despite reduced attendance, the mood was upbeat at BIR World Recycling Convention.
Acknowledging that when the BIR met in the fall of 2008, the recycling industry and the general economy had just begun a collapse that was still reverberating throughout the industry, Dominique Maguin, BIR president, noted that the industry would be a leader of the economic upswing. In his opening remarks at the convention, held May 25-27 in Dubai, United Arib Emirates, Maguin asked attendees to "assess our ability to react, organize and develop, and to reinforce our professionalism by enhancing the quality of our products, our respect for the environment and the training of employees."
The BIR will focus much of its attention throughout the next few years in working with the European Union toward setting an "end-of-waste" criteria. The association, along with Euro-
metrec and the European Recovered Paper Association (ERPA), two of BIR’s affiliated associations, has been asked to provide input on the deliberations the European Union is discussing.
Speakers at BIR’s Stainless Steel & Special Alloys Committee meeeting noted potential shortages of scrap could arise if there was a pickup in demand. In his remarks, Committee Chairman Michael Wright, chief operating officer of ELG Haniel GmbH, noted that, while stainless steel scrap availability remained low, a significant increase in demand could bring a supply/demand imbalance. Although upbeat about the future, most of the speakers during this session noted that supply and demand had fallen sharply during the past several quarters.
While many consumers around the world have eased back on their purchases, Chinese consumers have come back in the market, soaking up a significant volume of nonferrous metals. Despite this pickup in buying, Alter Trading’s Bob Stein, the chairman of BIR’s Nonferrous Committee, said the scrap metal industry was "marred by the most serious damage to its infrastructure ever" as a result of the "unacceptable behavior" and "wholly unethical activities" of some commercial operators in Asia and elsewhere late last year.
Even with an improved environment, Stein stressed that the contract defaults could not be overlooked. With this in mind, he added that the BIR’s Nonferrous Division board approved two resolutions relating to compliance with and enforcement of the association’s code of conduct.
The discussion and debate over contract defaults also carried over into the ferrous committee’s session. Interseroh Hansa Recycling GmbH’s Christian Rubach, president of the BIR Ferrous Division, noted that the ferrous scrap industry experienced a "confidence shock" when some major consumers looked to escape from their contractual obligations in response to the global economic crisis.
Reflecting this concern, the International Trade Council was formed during the World Recycling Conference. The goal of the group is to protect the trading interests of its members. The group discussed the issue of credit insurance and arbitration in the case of a contract default.
Speakers on the state of the paper recycling industry noted that while many parts of North America and Europe were running at a fairly slow pace, Chinese and Indian buying had helped to fill the gap in demand.
The BIR Autumn Round-Table Sessions will be Oct. 25-27 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
The author is senior and Internet editor of Recycling Today and can be contacted at dsandoval@gie.net.
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