Under current regulations, metals recyclers need only to record the name and address of the deliverer of the material and the registration of the vehicle with the metal.
However, Lindsay Millington, director general of the BMRA, said on the programme that “Companies receiving suspect metals on the bridge are advised to call the police.”
This was in response to a comment from presenter Jonathan Maitland, who said that of the materials that he and a driver had taken to yards, “you could reasonably have expected that they were stolen.”
Companies receiving suspect metals on the bridge are advised to call the police.
Lindsay Millington, BMRA
The pair had taken the materials seeking to give the impression that they were “dodgy”. But, some recipients of the material even indicated that they would like more, even though the provenance of the metal could have been uncertain.
Intimidated
Ms Millington suggested that the recipients of the metal might have felt intimidated by the deliveries, although this did not appear to be the case from the broadcast shown. And, the director general walked away from Jonathan Maitland during the programme, suggesting he was being “threatening”, although he appeared to be only asking questions.
It is thought that only one of the companies filmed was a member of the metals trade association – European Metals Recycling, known as EMR. The company declined to comment to Mr Maitland about the delivery of a bus shelter and bus stop to its Wolverhampton site. The vehicle delivering the bus shelter and bus stop had no livery markings and was generally tatty. The programme noted that bus shelters have been stolen in the past for their scrap metal value.
In the case of EMR, Mr Maitland received £44 for “steel and aluminium” and commented close to the weighbridge, “not bad for something you find at the side of the road.” EMR's weighbridge controller did record the vehicle number and name and address of the deliverer, in line with legal requirements. It is not known if she had any concerns about the provenance of the bus stop and shelter, or if she called the police in line with Ms Millington's comments.
A spokeswoman for EMR told letsrecycle.com that follow-up action by the company with regards to the delivery was “being handled by our operational managers in the Midlands.”
Commenting on the issue of scrap metal thefts in general, Ms Millington said yesterday: “Thefts are a serious problem for us as an industry. Metals recycling is already one of the UK's most heavily regulated sectors and further legislation would only serve to encourage more illegal and unlicensed trading of metals.”
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Lindsay Millington, director general of the BMRA, argues for a proportional approach to regulation in her latest column in the letsrecycle.com Opinions section.
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