This was the message promoted during an event organised by the French recycling association FEDEREC last week (4 December 2015) by Ranjit Baxi, world president of the Bureau of International Recycling (BIR).
In his speech at the event held in the Grand Palais, Mr Baxi explained that the early result of BIR’s updated report on ‘Environmental Benefits of Recycling’ concluded that the CO2 savings achieved through recycling are on the rise.
For aluminium, savings amount to 92% compared to primary production, for copper 65% and for ferrous 58%, the report showed. The first report of this kind, originally published in 2008, showed a 500 million tonnes of C02 emission savings through recycling, which is the equivalent of the total annual carbon dioxide emissions of the global aviation industry.
COP21 meetings
The Paris climate change conference held during the annual Conference of Parties (COP), takes place today and tomorrow (7-8 December) at Stade De France in Paris.
Involving the input of over 190 countries, the aim of the conference is to achieve a legally binding and universal agreement on climate, with the intention of keeping global warming below 2°C.
After 2014 was recorded as being the hottest year in recorded history, organisations worldwide encouraged a new strategy to prevent the increase of global warming to avoid rising sea levels and severe droughts.
Recycling report
The role of waste management for reducing greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) has been reported on in the past several months, with consultants carrying out a Europe-wide study to focus on the topic.
“We as citizens of this planet earth need to start understanding and realizing that recycling is crucial for all of us.”
Ranjit Baxi
President, Bureau of International Recycling
The report ‘The Potential Contribution of Waste Management to a Low Carbon Economy’ showed how changing waste management practices across the EU – particularly through boosting aluminium and textile recycling – could play a significant role in reducing GHG emissions (see letsrecycle.com story).
Message
A similar perspective was presented in BIR’s report, the message of which Mr Baxi intends to spread as widely as possible. He said: “We as citizens of this planet earth need to start understanding and realizing that recycling is crucial for all of us and that it can really benefit our planet.
“My personal evaluation is that the recycling industry saves up to 700 million tonnes of CO2 per year, which adds up to several billion tonnes over past decades”.
Furthermore, Mr Baxi stated that supporting recycling and the industry was a “crucial step” towards the protection of the climate worldwide.
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