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Scrap merchants, to quote the words of one of their leading spokesmen, ‘have been making money for a long time’. But in the fashionable era of the environmentalist, the work of these men—who epitomise the muck‐and‐money adage—has taken on a dimension that lifts it above the lowly status to which it was condemned in the past.

Derek Ezra, Lord Robens' NCB successor does his work in two parts, from Monday to Friday and at weekends. Such job dedication leaves little time for his outside interest—history. But, as he tells Preston Witts' he still has a task to complete with a certain Samuel Rogers.

The sheer strength of almost a million engineers is proving to be the deadweight around the neck of the AUEW. For it is now obvious that it could not finance a national strike in support of its current pay claim fight. Instead, the union's leadership, like Bob Wright, facing page, is going towards the tactic of picking off any of 5,000 plants one at a time. Preston Witts reports.

Encouraged by Egypt's steady repayment of a £13 milliondebt Britain has responded by lifting short‐term credit restrictions. Preston Witts reports on how this will benefit previously frustrated Anglo‐Egyptian trade.

Big technical snags at Albright and Wilson's Newfoundland phosphorus plant, pictured right, added to financial problems that led to the firm borrowing £17 million from the American giant Tenneco. This loan may result in it being taken over—and other UK chemical firms could follow suit. Preston Witts reports.

Japanese overseas investment will go up nearly tenfold by 1980, much of it in Europe. But UK ventures are likely to be small, like the YKK zip factory at Runcorn, to avoid conflict with unions. Preston Witts reports; pictures by Patrick Thurston.

The increasing sophistication and authority of the shop steward in British industry demands a new attitude by management towards his role in industrial relations. Far from being a bulwark against cordiality on the shop floor, he is often the means by which this is achieved. CIR chairman Len Neal believes that management as well as the unions will benefit from better trained shop stewards. Preston Witts reports

Preston Witts reports on industry's disturbing tendency to pass the buck on pollution control

Take an oil sealing ring made of cast‐iron, try to bend it, and it ‘gives’ only slightly. Do the same with a ring made of PTFE—or, to spell it out, polytetrafluroethylene—and you will be able to manipulate it as you wish.