MRAI: Driving larger scrap volumes

India’s metal recycling rates are believed to be considerably lower than those in North America or Europe. An influx of vehicles on India’s streets and highways, however, should lead to more metals recovery in the years ahead.

Several speakers at the 2015 Metal Recycling Association of India (MRAI) International Conference, held in Mumbai in February, referred to India’s growing sales figures and production numbers in the vehicle sector as a factor in the scrap recycling industry’s future.

The millions of vehicles that have been streaming onto India’s roads in the past several years includes trucks, cars, motorcycles, scooters and three-wheeled auto rickshaws.

Although drivers in India are likely to extend the lives of vehicles until they cannot be driven another mile, the sheer number of additional vehicles hitting the road each year will lead to a greater number of end-of-life vehicles (ELVs) in India in the next five to 10 years,

Mohan Agarwal of India-based aluminum producer Century Metal Recycling told MRAI delegates that India has risen to become the seventh largest automaker globally and the second largest producer of two-wheeled vehicles (motor scooters and motorcycles).

Presenter Goto-San from Toyota Tsusho India Pvt. Ltd. said his company’s forecasts show India’s passenger vehicles sales may zoom from 2.2 million vehicles sold in 2010 to 4.6 million units in 2015 and then 10.6 million units in 2021.

The ELVs will become “an important part of urban mining resources in India,” said Goto-San, adding that for Toyota Tsusho and other companies, “the opportunities in India are promising.’

A stream of ELVs in India would be a welcome development for recyclers. A study conducted for the MRAI by Frost & Sullivan and summarized at the February meeting by Venkatesan Subramanian, who works for that research firm in New Delhi, found that India’s current scrap iron and steel recycling rate could be as low as 12%, while its copper and aluminum recycling rates are at 45 percent and 50 percent respectively.

The 2015 MRAI International Conference was February 5-6 at the Renaissance Mumbai Convention Centre and Hotel.