Event : Global e-scrap scene reunites in Salzburg

The electronics recycling community, which was unable to meet last year, returned to its traditional venue in Salzburg on 18-21 January for its annual congress. The busy exhibition hall hosted some 40 recycling solutions providers and the level of interest and activity in all areas of the congress, showed that this industry needed to meet again. ‘It is crucial to meet face to face in this industry, we are so happy to be back in Salzburg,’ one delegate said.

During IERC 2022, in the workshop dedicated to the Green Deal, associations representing the whole range of electronics recycling industries hammered out a joint position paper to be delivered to the European Commission, containing detailed and practical recommendations to ensure the ambitious and workable implementation of the Green Deal for the whole electronics recycling sector Europe-wide.

The keynote speakers, both from the US, each caused a sensation with their straight-talking, practical approaches to electronics recycling. Adam Minter, Bloomberg columnist and author argued that we should think in bigger terms about what recycling means and preserve the recycling economies we already have. Nancy Gillis of the Global Electronics Council observed that the Basel Convention is designed to make the linear economy more sustainable not to make the economy circular.

Plastics recycling, one of the most current industrial recycling themes was debated in a special session organized by BSEF, the International Bromine Council. The conclusions of these discussions will be published at a later date.IERC 2022 inaugurated a new interactive tool for delegates to help them network better on site.

Couldn’t make it to IERC this year? The recordings and proceedings of the conference as well as videos and interviews are all available to purchase on icm.ch