National Recycling Congres online & live in The Hague

National Recycling Congress online & live in The Hague

Second edition of the National Recycling Congress

On 17 March 2022 the second edition of the National Recycling Congress took place. The entire organization was in the hands of our Lejeune team.

Unlike the first edition, which was organized entirely online, the second National Recycling Congress could be organized on location. 150 visitors met at the Fokker Terminal in The Hague. Another similar number watched online via the live stream. Among the visitors were members of the organizing associations, policymakers, enforcers, and suppliers to the industry.

National Recycling Forum

There was an interesting and varied program for the visitors. After the opening, the chairman of the day, Helga van Leur, held a discussion with the chairmen of the organizing associations of the National Recycling Forum. In this panel discussion, they were clear in what they want from the government. The main point: take recycling streams out of the waste concept and treat them as raw materials. This needs to be legally secured.

Ministry of I&W

After the panel discussion, it was the turn of the Ministry of IenW. Due to a corona infection of intended speaker Hagar Ligtvoet, last minute improvisations had to be made. Fortunately, a colleague of Hagar was willing to present: Peter Henkens. In his presentation Peter Henkens discussed the ambitions of the Netherlands to become 100% circular by 2050, and to use half of its primary raw materials by 2030. He also indicated that the ministry will make use of all the practical knowledge and experience that exists in the sector.

Frontrunner sessions

Innovative developments from the sector were then presented in nine pioneering sessions. The sessions were presented by: EMR Metal Recycling; Food2Food 2.0; Heemskerk Camera Vision; Morssinkhof; Multinet; PreZero; Renewi; Textiles2Textiles; Veolia.

Journalist and economist Mathijs Bouman

Closing the substantive program was journalist and economist Mathijs Bouman. In his talk he mentioned the contribution of the circular economy to achieving the climate objectives. If we go for optimum recycling and reuse, circular economy by definition contributes to climate policy.

After the closing, the visitors could chat and network again in the old fashioned way during the drinks. We look back on a successful conference and thank all visitors, speakers and sponsors for making this day possible.