UNIDO/BIR event in Vienna : How to remove barriers to recycling industry development

BIR is stepping up its collaborative initiatives with UNIDO, the United Nations Industrial Development Agency.

A two-day event, which was organised on 14 and 15 November in Vienna, brought together recycling experts, representatives of UNIDO Member States, and industry leaders from all over the world to discuss existing barriers to recycling industries and innovative approaches to overcome these.

BIR President Ranjit Baxi and Director General Arnaud Brunet attended on behalf of the Brussels BIR Secretariat, with Mr Baxi taking the floor in the first plenary session that shed a light on the barriers for the recycling industry and how policies could support this vital industrial sector. He stressed the central role of the recycling industry in the circular economy and called upon legislators to put civil society at the forefront of any recycling policy and programme.

Some BIR members had been invited to give emphasis to the recycling industry’s perspective: Non-Ferrous Division board member Leopoldo Clemente of LCD Trading presented the non-ferrous metals sector, Susie Burrage in her capacity as BMRA President the ferrous sector and Martin Böschen of Texaid the textiles sector.

In the subsequent session, Ms Kummer Peiry of Kummer Ecoconsult, former Executive Secretary of the Basel Convention, presented the first draft of a White Paper on Removing the Barriers to Recycling Industry Development that she had prepared with input from UNIDO and BIR. While acknowledging the key role of recycling in the circular economy and for supporting many of the Sustainable Development Goals, institutional, structural, and economic barriers were identified, with legal and regulatory frameworks representing a challenge in many regions.

In their joint closing statement, Mr Baxi and UNIDO’s Director of Environment Stephan Sicars stressed that strengthening a multilateral dialogue on global environmental cooperation and the circular economy was essential  with a view to an inclusive and sustainable industrial development.