A global recycling industry body recently said the European Commission’s proposed restrictions on scrap aluminium exports were unnecessary and risked undermining the circular economy.
The Commission said in November it planned to restrict exports of scrap aluminium to stop the metal flooding out of the European Union and leaving its industry short.
The move was welcomed by aluminium lobby European Aluminium, which urged policymakers to introduce export fees on the material.
However, the Brussels-based Bureau of International Recycling, which represents 37 national recycling federations, described the idea of an EU export ban or any trade restriction on aluminium scrap as “neither necessary nor effective”.
“The EU already generates more aluminium scrap than can be absorbed domestically,” the BIR said in its feedback to the EU’s public consultation on the matter, which was open until the end of January.
Available data “does not demonstrate structural ‘scrap leakage’ that would justify intervention”, it said. Scrap leakage refers to the loss of recyclable materials – a valuable and much lower-carbon resource than primary metal – to foreign markets.
Restricting exports would create oversupply in the EU, lower scrap prices and leave recyclers in an unsustainable economic position, the BIR said.
“This would ultimately reduce collection and recycling rates, increase the risk of unmanaged waste streams, and undermine the circular economy,” it added.
The Commission has said it will propose targeted measures for aluminium scrap by the second quarter of this year.
