Items filtered by date: Friday, 26 February 2021
Euroslag and the FEhS-InstitütfürBaustoff-Forschung lobby European Commission to tighten procurement law for greater secondary materials uptake 26 February 2021
Germany: Euroslag and the FEhS-InstitütfürBaustoff-Forschung have spoken of the need for an amendment to European public procurement law to make the uptake of secondary raw materials, including slag, mandatory for public construction tenders. The organisations said that the European Parliament’s latest report on its Circular Economy Action Plan of March 2020 provides for a more strongly ‘ecologically-orientated’ public procurement law.
Euroslag chair and FEhS-InstitütfürBaustoff-Forschung managing director Thomas Reiche said, "The own-initiative report provides the best foundation for binding, forward-looking legislation to consistently promote the circular economy. This also includes fair competition and the conditional prioritisation of secondary raw materials, as also demanded by the rapporteur of the European Parliament Jan Huitema. Only concrete procurement directives with third-party protection character ensure the Europe-wide use of all high-quality secondary building materials, which have been making an important contribution to ecologically and economically sound economic activity for decades!"
US: Harsco Corporation recorded net sales of US$1.85bn in 2020, up by 23% year-on-year from Euro1.50bn in 2019. The group’s adjusted earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell by 10% to US$238m from US$265m. Harsco Environmental’s fourth quarter net sales rose by 2% to US$246m from US$243m. Its adjusted EBITDA rose by under 1% to US$52.0m from US$51.0m. The company attributed the division’s growth to higher demand for applied products and lower general and administrative spending, partially offset by a less favourable services mix and contract changes.
Chairman and chief executive officer Nick Grasberger said, “Against a challenging market backdrop in 2020, Harsco made significant progress on its strategic, operational and financial objectives. While the disruption caused by the global pandemic could not have been predicted, our teams executed well, with a consistent focus on our key priorities – operating safely, serving customers, preserving financial flexibility and executing our Environmental Solutions business from Stericycle (ESOL) integration and operational recovery plan in Rail.”