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| Scott Horne, General Counsel, ISRI, speaks to the attendees in China. |
“Drop the word ‘waste’—call it scrap, call it recycling, but drop the word waste,” stated Scott Horne to delegates attending the 2011 Secondary Metals International Forum, organized by the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association Recycling Metal Branch (CMRA).
Horne, General Counsel of the Institute for Scrap Recycling Industries Inc. (ISRI), Washington, recounted to the CMRA Forum attendees how ISRI has largely been successful in teaching elected officials and regulators that there is a difference between valued secondary commodities (scrap) and waste.
Currently, however, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed expanding the definition of waste to include some forms of scrap that have long been exempt from waste disposal regulations.
The fact that after “decades” of exclusions for scrap materials the EPA is now proposing these changes prompted Horne to stress to the Chinese and international audience that the words they use on a daily basis can be vitally important.
“Nobody pays $8,000 per ton for waste,” Horne said. “I can’t imagine any of you paying for waste. We would be best served as an industry to move away from that terminology.”
In earlier portions of his presentation, Horne provided an overview of how large the scrap recycling industry has become in the United States and globally.
In 2010, said Horne, the United States exported some 19.6 million tons of ferrous scrap, about 780,000 tons of aluminum scrap and nearly 480,000 tons of copper scrap. For copper scrap, he noted, “China is the dominant buyer,” and the nation has also become the largest export destination for aluminum scrap.
Horne urged Chinese attendees to express support for free and fair trade to keep these supply lines open. “I urge you here to ask your government to avoid imposing any artificial barriers as it pertains to scrap,” he stated.
In the United States, the aforementioned EPA definition change presents a looming barrier. “We have shipped scrap metal for decades from the U.S. [and] it has moved freely with very little government intervention,” Horne said.
But the proposed EPA definition change has the potential to create barriers. “It is conceivable that scrap could be viewed as not just a waste, but a hazardous waste,” said Horne. “At ISRI, we have spent large amounts of money and staff time making it clear to EPA that this would be an unwise choice. If EPA does not agree, we will challenge it in the courts if we have to,” vowed Horne.
The CMRA’s 11th Secondary Metals International Forum was in Guangzhou, China, Nov. 7-9, 2011.