Speaking at the BMF’s autumn dinner in London, Mr Bond said: “We have resolved the problems and the market barriers and should be recognised for this.”
He explained to letsrecyle.com that the metals sector had in the past faced export barriers and a mass of often unwarranted legislative controls. These had been countered by persuading the government to permit the export of scrap metal and more recently there has been the acceptance of specifications and a grading system for the metals.
Mr Bond said that this approach could be beneficial to other market sectors and he looked forward to the Federation having a seat at the table when government departments brought together groups to advise on market development.
The president also took the opportunity at the dinner to restate the BMF view that there should only be one trade association for metal recyclers – currently there are two, the other being the British Secondary Metals Association which generally represents non-ferrous businesses.
He said: “Metal recycling is metal recycling whether the material is ferrous or non-ferrous. This sector should be represented by one trade association. The BMF national council remains firmly committed to one trade association and the recent overhaul of our structures should make this aim more easy to achieve.”
He added: “Future successes will not be found by looking back.”
Mr Bond will remain in office for a second year from June 2001 following the decision to increase the time served by BMF presidents from one year to two.
More details about the British Metals Federation
Market development groups urged to learn from metals
Anyone working on market development for recyclable materials such as glass and plastics could learn a lot from the successes of the metals recycling industry, George Bond, president of the British Metals Federation said last night.
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