The British Metals Recycling Association has welcomed the release of two European reports calling for new end of waste criteria which would recognize that fully recovered metals are highly valuable secondary raw material.
Restrictions on the recycled metal trade could be eased if the European Commission adopts the proposals put forward in the reports issued by the European Environment Council and the EC’s research centre, IPTS.
The European Environment Council of Ministers is calling for the European Commission to remove the unnecessary burden that the current waste definitions place on recyclers. And IPTS has set out a methodology which can be used to define when metals stop being waste.
IPTS conducted three case studies to determine when the definition for end-of-waste should apply. It looked at metals (iron, steel and aluminum), compost and aggregates and examined whether there was a common methodology which could be used. It also proposed specific criteria that might define end-of-waste criteria for each material.
Lindsay Millington, BMRA’s director general, said, "IPTS has recognized that once metal has been properly collected, separated and placed on the market, it is not a risk for the environment. Moreover it has a high value and is in world-wide demand as a secondary raw material. On average, around 40 percent of all smelted metals come from recovered metals. There is no case to label this material ‘waste’."
She added: "We welcome the fact that IPTS have developed such a practical methodology after spending time with the industry and visiting metal recycling sites in the UK. The current ‘waste’ definition puts European metal recyclers at a disadvantage in the world market, since it places restrictions on trade that our main competitors (Russia, Japan, and the United States) do not have to consider. This is a particular concern for BMRA members because nearly half of all Europe’s recovered metal exports come from the UK. We are now keen to see the recommendations adopted in European law as soon as possible."
The EC and IPTS proposals will be considered at a meeting of European Commission and member states’ government representatives later this month, as part of the implementation of the revised Waste Framework Directive agreed late in 2008.
BMRA’s support for the proposals has the full backing of metal recycling associations across Europe.
The European Ferrous Recovery & Recycling Federation and Eurometrec have already announced their support of the IPTS approach and offered to "assist the EU and national authorities, in cooperation with the main consumers, to carry the criteria proposed by IPTS into a Commission decision of end of waste."