The fourth edition of the International Indian Metals Recycling Conference was held at Fairmont Hotel, Jaipur, India where around 1000 delegates were present. The conference was attended by industry leaders, officials from India’s ministry of steel, ministry of mines and representatives from other related sectors. Representatives from various trade groups were in attendance, including the Bureau of International Recycling (BIR), the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries Inc. (ISRI) and the Bureau of Middle East Recycling (BMR).

Topics covered include market reports, discussions on government policies that affect the import and trade of metal scrap in India, quality standards and inspection procedures, customs duties, inspection procedures and emerging opportunities, challenges and trends in the metal scrap recycling industry in India and globally. BIR President Ranjit Baxi, ISRI President Robin Wiener and BMR President Salam Sharif were among the key speakers at the event. Surendra Borad Patawari, Chairman, Gemini Corporation & Chairman Plastics Committee, BIR, received the International Indian Recycling Pioneer Award. In his speech, Borad stressed on the tremendous potential that remains untapped in the Indain waste recycling industry, referring to many waste recycling success stories from around the world including Hong Kong, Belgium and Germany.

“The global waste management business is considered to be almost as big as the total GDP of India. Indian GDP is estimated to be worth 2300 billion dollars and the global waste management business is considered to be worth 2000 billion dollars. It is growing every day by over 150 million dollars, about one thousand crore rupees of new business every day. Isn’t that a big business? This is really a big business. There is so much money to be made. So many jobs to be created,” he remarked, also urging the government representatives present to think of creating a separate ministry for scrap resources.