CDE to sponsor Austrian recycling conference
CDE have been confirmed as a sponsor for the annual recycling conference organized by Baustoff Recycling Verband. The 2013 event takes place in the Arcotel Wimberger Hotel, Vienna on 12 March.
The theme of this year’s conference is ‘Materials Recycling – Products for the future’ and a variety of topics will be addressed including new standards in demolition, quality assurance, sustainability, urban mining and new applications for recycled building materials.
CDE bring over a decade of experience in the recycling of construction, demolition and excavation waste to the conference and representatives of the company will be available to discuss previous projects and the major issues facing the industry in the years ahead.
The revised Waste Framework Directive requires that all EU member states achieve 70% recycling of construction and demolition waste material by 2020. CDE Global, however, have been very vocal in this area and have raised concerns over whether existing measurement procedures are the best way of ensuring that we make the most of the valuable resource that construction and demolition waste represents.
Commenting on this topic Peter Craven, CDE’s head of marketing and sales support, said: ‘While there is no doubt that some form of measurement is needed to allow us to monitor progress I have serious doubts about whether simply looking at a 70% recycling rate allows to achieve anything meaningful. What does recovery actually mean? For my money we should be looking at raising the bar in the approach we take to dealing with this material. The vast majority of the material being produced at the minute is being used on very low-value applications using the most basic processing possible. Surely we should now be looking at how we can move recycled material up the value chain? This can be achieved by shifting away from the focus on volume and instead looking at how we can improve the quality of recycled materials from construction, demolition and excavation waste.’
CDE have developed advanced processing systems for construction and demolition waste that employ materials washing technology to ensure the production of materials with higher value applications than when crushing and dry screening systems are used.
‘We have a portfolio of projects that provide all the evidence required that washing this material is the best way to maximize the value of recycled materials and increase the range of potential applications,’ said Mr Craven.
A recent visit from UK Prime Minister, David Cameron to a CDE installation for Sheehan Contractors in Oxford, England provided support for this argument. Commenting on his visit Mr Cameron said: ‘The project is something that I whole heartedly support, not only will it make a positive difference to our environment but I hope that it will also help to inspire and encourage more businesses in the industry to get involved in similar projects and to really make a positive difference to our recycling practice.’
