FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

BIR WORLD RECYCLING CONVENTION

31 May – 2 June 2010

Istanbul, Turkey

Brussels, 26 May 2010: Over a thousand representatives of the global recycling industry and 33 exhibitors showcasing new technology and innovation will meet in Istanbul 31 May-2 June 2010 at the World Recycling Convention, organised by BIR (Bureau of International Recycling).

“Recycling is the nexus of global business opportunity and environmental benefit through resource conservation and reuse,” says BIR President Dominique Manguin. “With recycled materials supplying up to 50 percent of the world’s raw material needs, our industry is now trading on a global basis.”

BIR is the international trade association of the recycling industries, promoting resource conservation, environmental protection and free trade of secondary raw materials.

“In addition to its beauty, Istanbul has a rich history of international trade and commerce,” says Francis Veys, BIR’s Director General. “So it’s no surprise that this convention is the largest BIR has ever offered. We’ll have speakers from around the world as well as presentations from key players in the Turkish recycling sector.”

“More and more opinion-leaders around the world recognise that a healthy recycling industry is good for the global economy and for the environment,” Francis Veys continues. “With an annual turnover of more than $200 billion, the sector is already a key driver for tomorrow’s sustainable development, spending about 10 percent of turnover on new technologies, research and development that contribute to creating high-skilled jobs.”

Three presentations at the convention’s General Assembly on the 1^st of June at 14:30 will show how recycling weaves together business opportunity, environmental protection and sustainable development:

• “What’s happening in the world economy – why recycling matters,” is the keynote speech by Hamish McRae, a well-known global economic visionary. According to Hamish McRae, the emergence of culture and values as a source of competitive edge for industrialized nations signals a profound shift in world order. He will show how changes in demography, environment, government, technology and natural resources contribute to this new competitive landscape.
• Doug Woodring, co-founder of Project Kaisei, a not-for-profit organisation that is looking at the problem of marine debris and solutions for both prevention and clean-up, will talk about “How recycling can save the ocean.” Project Kaisei’s focus is the North Pacific Gyre, a huge accumulation of debris in one of the largest and most remote ecosystems on the planet, and the recycling industry will be key to clean-up and future pollution prevention. BIR is a co-sponsor of Project Kaisei.
• Professor Philippe Chalmin from Paris-Dauphine University, and Chairman of the Cercle CyclOpe, a market analysis institute, will present a report on the globalisation of the world market for recycled commodities, entitled “World markets of recovered and recycled commodities: time to smile again?” This is a first-ever statistical report using key data for some of the commodities recycled by BIR members, and shows that recycling has moved out of its local and domestic markets and gone global with representative world prices and emerging derivatives markets.

More information on these presentations is found in the attachment, along with details about involvement of Turkish recycling companies and associations in the World Recycling Convention.

“Recycling is the only natural resource that will grow, not decline,” notes Dominique Maguin. “The World Recycling Convention is an arena for discussion and interaction to grow this resource and further global economic progress and environmental protection.”

More information can be found at www.bir.org/events .

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