Metal crap: German association VDM denounces EU regulation once again

The Berlin association Verband Deutscher Metallhändler und Recycler e. V. (VDM) has once again denounced a proposed EU regulation that will make international trade in scrap metal more difficult. In mid-January, the European Parliament voted by a majority to adopt a committee report on revisions to the EU Shipment Regulation.

According to the VDM, the amended regulation does not distinguish between different types of scrap and therefore makes free trade in already recycled metal more difficult. The criticism echoes the views expressed by other metal and paper recyclers that the EU, in an attempt to control the misuse or disposal of plastics, is making circumstances difficult for recyclers of more commonly recycled copper, aluminium, steel and cardboard.

The plastic-centric view obscures the fact that high-quality recycled metals are an international commodity that, when used in the processing industry, contributes to the conservation of primary resources worldwide. Measures such as auditing and registration of foreign buyers worry the metal recycling industry in Europe, which soon fears that its processed raw materials ‘will only be able to leave the European market under much more difficult conditions, because their goods will fall under the increasingly stringent scrap legislation’.

The association states: ‘Unspecified verifications for buyers of copper, aluminium or steel scrap in non-European markets will once again increase the density of reporting requirements and unnecessarily complicate trade, damaging the recycling industry.

VDM says that a survey conducted by EuRIC, a Brussels-based company of which it is a member, showed that more than 50 per cent of the 110 or so metal recyclers surveyed expect a drop in employment due to the proposed revision of the EU Scrap Shipment Regulation. The survey also shows that 80% of metal recyclers expect a drop in sales and 64% “cited insufficient demand in the EU” as a reason for exporting to non-European markets.

“For many companies, the collapse of the international market would lead them to invest less and process only those raw materials that are in demand within the EU,” says VDM. “It is therefore clear to us that less trade leads to less recycling.” VDM says that revisions to the scrap shipment regulation have not yet been finalised and will be discussed in an upcoming ‘trialogue’ between the European Commission, Council and Parliament. “We will continue to work to ensure that international metal trade remains viable, despite the expected obstacles.”