Save The Date

The Paper Recycling Conference that will take place Oct. 16-18 in downtown Chicago traces its roots back to two events that have long served to bring together recovered fiber collectors, processors, brokers and buyers.

The Recycling Today Media Group hosted its first Paper Recycling Conference in 2000 in the Buckhead district of Atlanta. It was met with enthusiasm by several hundred attendees and by equipment vendors and other companies who chose to exhibit.

Almost from the beginning, the conference’s organizers worked to invite the Paper Stock Industries (PSI) chapter of ISRI (the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries Inc.) to take part in helping plan the event and urged its members to attend. It was not until 2011, however, that the Paper Recycling Conference event moved from its traditional June time frame to October, blending in the PSI Fall Meeting.

The PSI Fall Meeting dates back to 1961 and for several decades served as the autumn gathering place for the recovered fiber industry in the U.S. In 2011 the two conferences combined for the first time as PSI celebrated its 50th anniversary.

Among the topics to be covered at the 2013 Paper Recycling Conference partnered with the PSI Conference are:

• The future of the paper recycling industry;
• Paper mill buyers’ viewpoint;
• OCC (old corrugated containers) trends;
• Recovered fiber export patterns;
• Processing and equipment considerations;
• Waste-to-energy options;
• Financing and succession planning;
• Electronics recycling certification; and
• Plastic scrap identification.

Paper recycling remains at the heart of the programming this October, but processors and traders who have diversified into plastics or electronics also will find presentations and exhibitors catering to their interests.

For the 14th consecutive year, I’m looking forward to being part of a gathering that offers informative presentations; an exhibit hall full of the industry’s best and most reputable companies; and the chance to talk in person with Recycling Today readers who each day take on the challenges of collecting, packing, shipping and consuming the world’s secondary commodities.

To make sure you’re part of this very worthwhile annual gathering, please go to www.paperrecyclingconference.com and click on the North America link. I hope to see you there!