1. Membership categories
   
   
   • A. Effective members (with the right to vote)
     Any individual or corporate body including trade organisations, involved in collecting, trading and/or processing of secondary raw materials, and actually belonging to the recycling sector.
     
     1. Federation
     a) National federation, association or national sectorial organisations:
     i.e. any national professional organisation representing one or more commodity sector(s) in the field of recycling (this refers to the national trade federation, association or national sectorial organisation as a corporate body and not to its affiliates).
     b) Supranational federation or association
     i.e. any professional organisation representing one or more commodity sectors of recycling for more than one country and / or major economic / geographic zone (this refers to a federation or association as a corporate body and not its affiliates).
     
     2. Company and individual
     Any commercial firm, any individual or corporate body with trading or industrial activities involved in a sector of recycling. This person or commercial firm may become
     either, a "supporting member" if it is the member of a national federation, association or national sectorial organisation affiliated to the BIR.
     or an "associate member" if it is not the member of a national federation, association or national sectorial organisation affiliated to the BIR.
     
     
   • B. Partner Member (with no right to vote)
     Any individual or corporate body interested in / or involved in recycling in the broad sense of the word, which does not fulfil the requirements for effective membership.
     Any application for effective or partner membership of the BIR will be submitted for examination by the Membership Committee consisting of representatives of the Commodity Division concerned (see item 2)
     
     
2. Application procedures for membership
   
   When applying for membership the candidate will be informed of the BIR membership rules and code of conduct.
   
   If the candidate is of the opinion that he could meet these criteria he will then fill in and send his application form to the BIR Secretariat with all the necessary information including a presentation brochure and an activities report. He will include a proof of payment of the annual membership dues. Any candidate applying for BIR membership before April 1st will pay the full annual dues. Applications received after the annual General Assembly will require a settlement of six months membership fees.
   
   The BIR Secretariat will check the information, accept the application when appropriate and inform the Chairman of the Membership Committee and the representative of the Commodity Division concerned by the application. The BIR Secretariat will inform the concerned national association when a candidate applies for supporting membership.
   
   Admission to the BIR may be refused by the Membership Committee Chairman and by the representative of the concerned commodity who will clearly express the reasons. Whenever necessary, the advice of the concerned national federation will be sought.
   
   At the annual General Assembly the Chairman of the Membership Committee will report to the Executive Committee the names of the applicants pending further ratification by the General Assembly.
   
   A new effective member of BIR does not acquire the right to vote until his admission has been ratified at the General Assembly and his dues have been paid.
   
   Pending the ratification by the General Assembly, any candidate may be granted provisional admission to the organisation (information matters, attendance of the conventions etc.).
   
   
3. Annual Membership Fee - Resignation - Expulsion
   
   
   • Any BIR member must regularly pay its annual membership fee in the course of the first 3 months after the beginning of the calendar year at the latest, i.e. by March 31st. In the case of non-payment before that deadline all membership services will be suspended by the BIR Secretariat.
     
     
   • Any member may resign from BIR provided it gives in writing (letter, fax, email) a six months notice. The resignation however will only be effective at the end of the calendar year. The resigning member will continue to enjoy the BIR services until that time and will be bound to respect all BIR rules until then.
     
     
   • Any member may be expelled by the Executive Committee on the proposal of the Chairman of the Membership Committee for breach of the statutes, by-laws, membership conditions and code of conduct. And for any act which might be detrimental to BIR or its members - such as criticising BIR policy in a public forum or during a plenary meeting of the organisation.
     
     
   • New membership applications, resignations and expulsions are always submitted for ratification to the General Assembly.
     

To be accepted as a BIR member any candidate must:

• give evidence of their commercial activities.
• have been active in the industry/trade for a minimum of three years and be recognized as a company in good standing.
• be in full compliance with national and international environmental legislation.
• be in full compliance with the taxation authorities.
• be in full compliance with the social security legislation

After having been accepted as a member any candidate must:

• continue to respect the above membership conditions.
• abide by the statutes and by-laws of the organisation.
• inform BIR of any change of commercial activities or structure which may have an impact on its membership status.
• inform BIR of any legal problems which may have an impact on the BIR image.

Any BIR member will behave honestly during its commercial transactions with members and non-members alike in compliance with the general terms and conditions which are commonly used in the trade and industry.

In the case of a dispute, they will try to reach a compromise or make use of the BIR Arbitration Services and abide by the sentence of the arbitrators. Whenever possible, reference to BIR Arbitration will be mentioned on their contracts.

Additional BIR code of conduct for public affairs and media relations.

This code of conduct applies to Officers and Members of the BIR in their contracts with international Public Institutions (UNEP/OECD/EU etc…), National Governments and Institutions and the Media.

Officers and Members of the BIR are not entitled to speak on behalf of or represent the BIR unless they have been officially mandated by either their Divisional President, Committee Chairman or by the President of Director General (BIR officials).

Officers and members of the BIR, when asked by BIR officials to represent the interests of the BIR are all committed to abide by this code; acting in an honest, responsible and courteous manner at all times. They will abstain from committing BIR financially, and will always seek for BIR President/Treasurer/Director General previous agreements in this respect. In their dealings with International and National Institutions, Governments and with the Media, BIR Representatives shall:

Identity and Mandate:

• identify themselves by name and company and explain BIR sectorial activities.
• declare the BIR interest represented.
• neither intentionally misrepresent their status nor the nature of their inquiries to officials of the institutions and/or media nor create any false impression in relation thereto.
• neither directly, nor indirectly, misrepresent links with institutions and/or the media.
• strictly abide by the BIR Officials guidelines or instructions on subject area and argumentation of lobbying action. Written statements are to be proof-read and accepted by the BIR officials before dissemination.
• Avoid any profession conflicts of interest.
  

Confidentiality and use of information:

• not disseminate false or misleading information knowingly, or recklessly, and exercise proper care to avoid doing so inadvertently.
• not use/communicate for profit to third parties copies, obtained from institutions and/or media.
• honour confidential information given to them.
• not obtain information from institutions and/or the media by dishonest means.

Relationship with institutions and media:

• neither directly nor indirectly offer nor give any financial inducement to any official nor their staff.
• neither propose nor undertake any action which would constitute an improper influence on them and could affect the BIR image.
• only employ official personnel, subject to the rules of confidentiality requirements of the institutions.