Despite travel challenges and unrest in many parts of the world, the BIR’s latest World Convention has attracted an “amazing” 1700-plus registered participants representing more than 800 companies from 57 countries, President Susie Burrage OBE revealed to the event’s Opening Session at the Swedish Exhibition & Congress Centre in Gothenburg on June 1.
The BIR Convention – the first to be staged in Sweden for half a century – will provide the opportunity for delegates to hear from experts on a range of topics affecting the world’s recycling industry, said Ms Burrage. And she urged delegates “to share, to listen and to inspire each other” during their time in a city known for its “strong industrial heritage” and “commitment to sustainability”.
Once again in her latest opening address to a BIR Convention, Ms Burrage confirmed “strong progress” for the world body across many of its areas of activity. She pointed in particular to the organisation’s strengthened advocacy push at international level which is “ensuring the voice of the recycling industry is heard in key policy discussions”. She also drew particular attention to the early-2026 launch of the BIR Academy video series, which is designed to share practical knowledge, promote best practices and support education across the global recycling industry.
Touching also on BIR’s successes in communications, Ms Burrage noted a tremendous increase in the world organisation’s social media footprint, with more than 20,000 followers on LinkedIn. At the same time, the flow of valuable information to BIR members has recently included the release of the fifth edition of flagship membership magazine The Recyclist, the global recycling federation’s Annual Report for 2025 and the latest World Recycling in Figures publication from the BIR Ferrous Division.
“All our work is a clear sign that our industry is not only essential, but also increasingly connected, innovative and forward-looking,” declared Ms Burrage, who is Managing Director of UK-based Recycled Products Ltd. That same innovation extends to the BIR Exhibition running in parallel with the Convention: in addition to 39 companies promoting their products and services in Gothenburg, the exhibition hall features for the first time a presentation stage from where individual companies can introduce themselves as well as an AI corner showcasing valuable AI-based recycling solutions.
Having confirmed that BIR’s second Convention in 2026 will be staged this October in the southern Spanish city of Málaga, Ms Burrage then introduced keynote speaker Fredrik Haren whose presentation entitled “Unlocking creativity and resourcefulness in times of change” could not be more timely, she said, given today’s constant shifts and upheavals around the world.
Known widely as “The Creativity Explorer”, the Swedish national has spent 25 years interviewing thousands of highly creative people worldwide, while also speaking in more than 70 countries on the need to remain curious and to embrace new perspectives.
He began by acknowledging the “very, very intense energy” at the BIR Convention and confirmed, through a series of questions and a show of hands, that the audience was “way more creatively confident” than average. And this creativity, he said, not only solved problems but also made us wealthier and happier. Creative people are extremely positive, according to Mr Haren. “So for the rest of this conference, I want you to practice what I call radical positivity,” he said. “The goal is to see that one thing that you can pick up, because we all know we only need one good idea from a conference like this and it has paid ten times the value of coming here.”
An idea is when knowledge and latest information are combined in a new way, thus meaning that every idea is a combination of other ideas. “Creativity, technically, is just to recycle,” he declared. “You look at existing things and say ‘What could I possibly do with this thing in a way that turns it into something better?’” According to Mr Haren, creative people are risk takers, are not afraid to make mistakes and go their own way. “But more than anything else, they are curious,” he underlined. “Curiosity is the number one skill to become creative. And it’s a skill; it can be trained. Curiosity is about asking questions. Curiosity is what leads to knowledge.”
Good ideas could come from anywhere, he added, and so “that is why it’s so important to be at a global conference and to talk to everyone, regardless of where they come from, because best practices are now global”. Throughout history, some extremely confident people have become very creative whereas other highly confident people have just failed miserably. Mr Haren urged delegates to be proud of what they know but, at the same time, to be humble enough to accept that there is someone from a completely different part of the world “doing something better than you are doing”, he said. “And your job is to use your curiosity, your open-mindedness and your positive mindset to pick up on that and combine that with what you already know.”
Ms Burrage described Mr Haren’s presentation as “a powerful reminder that curiosity, creativity and openness to new perspectives are essential if we want to navigate change and seize new opportunities”.
Photo/BIR
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