SITA pioneers cashless scrap metal policy

SITA UK has introduced a cashless payment system on scrap metal deals, in a move the company hopes will be adopted across the industry.

Thewaste management companyis phasing out cash payments to anyone exchanging scrap at one of its ten scrap metal sites across the country and it will soon be a requirementto show proof of identification and take payment electronically.

The move is intended to help deter scrap metal theft by providing a clear audit trail, with the home office currently considering whether cashless transactions should be a legal requirement as part of its review of the Scrap Metal Dealers Act 1964.

Speaking today (December 16) at the launch of the initiative at SITAs metal recycling facility in Hayes, chief executive David Palmer-Jones called for key players in the scrap metal trade to set an example and cut cash out of the trade.

Metal theft

We are relatively new to the scrap metal industry, and having entered from the heavily regulated waste management sector, it is quite a surprise to us that this is not something that has been introduced before.

Metal theft is a serious issue throughout the UK and we fully support proposals to update the Scrap Metal Dealers Act. In addition, we believe that the use of a cashless system, coupled with compulsory use of photo ID for all transactions, will help to address the trading of stolen metals and issues such as tax evasion, he said.

We urge major players in the metals recycling industry to adopt similar cashless systems as a compulsory measure so we can help Government to combat metal theft.

Scrap Metal Dealers Act

Home office minister for crime prevention and anti-social behaviour reduction, Lord Henley, is leading the governments review of the Scrap Metal Dealers Act, and confirmed that cashless transactions were something the government was seriously considering as a means of clamping down on the illegal trade in scrap metal.

He said: The Scrap Metal Dealers act in its current form is passed its sell by date, and we are looking at ways this can be improved. We want to ensure that there is greater transparency within the scrap metal industry and make it harder for cash to work its way down to lower end businesses and remove the incentive for crime.

Cashless payments have been tried in France, where they found that illegal traders would attempt to sell their scrap abroad instead. Unlike in France, you cant simply drive across our borders, and this would make it easy for us to police at ports.

Criticism

Critics of the cashless system claim that without a crack down on unregulated scrap yards, introducing a ban on cash will only drive legitimate trade underground (see letsrecycle.com story), however Lord Henley said he was keen to ensure that this did not happen.

He said: We are establishing a dedicated national taskforce led by the British Transport Police to step up enforcement and bring more of these unscrupulous criminals to justice.

SITAs new system includes an on-the-day payment delivery system that ensures that funds are transferred within two hours of the sale taking place. Traders must produce proof of identification or address upon arriving any SITA metal yard, and will be asked for bank details to process the payment.