Sophie Burrige OBE, Chairman of the Bureau of International Recycling (BIR), invited Matthew to keynote in Abu Dhabi. BIR represents most of the world's major recyclers from every corner of the industry, from e-waste, fabrics and plastics to demolition and scrap metal.
Recycling is arguably the industry with the greenest vision of all: to enable the circular economy through the continuous recycling and reuse of materials and resources. Yet, as Matthew noted, many see it as one of the most underrated industries in the world as we try to avert the climate crisis.
"Every year humanity uses over 100 Billion tonnes of the Earth's resources, produces over 2.4 Billion tonnes of hard waste, and recycles just 312 Million tonnes, a figure that is dismal by anyone's standards."Matthew Griffin, Abu Dhabi, December 2023
The numbers are stark. Every year humanity uses over 100 billion tonnes of the Earth's resources, produces over 2.4 billion tonnes of hard waste, and recycles just 312 million tonnes. That is not down to the industry's will or technology, which is greater than many think. It is because most rubbish goes into the wrong bins, and because investors focused on ESG overlook the need to build and scale global recycling capacity.
Matthew gave a state of the union for the industry, worked through the global statistics and lifted the lid on government green policies. He then showed the latest recycling technologies that will help processors remove toxic chemicals from recycling, raise material and resource recovery rates, and decarbonise the industry further.
