EU urged to agree End-of-Waste criteria for copper

The trade body representing Europes metal recyclers has urged the Council of the European Union not to let disagreement over contamination levels delay the adoption of End-of-Waste criteria for copper.

Proposals for the criteria for copper, which determine when copper scrap ceases to be classed as a waste material and can be classed as a product, were put forward by the European Commission on January 11, stating that scrap must contain less then 2% of foreign materials to achieve end of waste status.

For handlers of recovered material, achieving End of Waste status is seen as important when it is classed as a product a material is exempt from waste permitting requirements and can be easier to sell.

The Council of the European Union, which is made up of government ministers from each of the EU Member States, has until mid March to reach agreement on the proposals for copper or defer them back to the Commission for further scrutiny.

Proposals

Some Member States have argued that the 2% level is too stringent, a view that is supported by the European Metal Trade and Recycling Federation (Eurometrec), but the group fears that disagreement over the quality threshold could delay the regulation coming into force.

Eurometrec is keen to see the End-of-Waste criteria come into effect as quickly as possible, after the Commission failed to agree on the criteria for copper in July 2012 (see letsrecycle.com story).The organisation has instead argued that Member States should accept the proposed 2% threshold, and review the regulations at a later date if the quality criterion is deemed to be too high.

Eurometrec president Robert Voss said: Eurometrec fully supports that the Council of the European Union come to an agreement on the proposed Council Regulation establishing criteria determining when copper scrap ceases to be waste. Eurometrec thanks those Member States experts that also raised the 5% instead of 2% threshold.

Crucially, Eurometrec would not want to see the Regulation fail to get support at the Council on account of the threshold, after all one, one of the Regulations Recitals allows for review of the criteria.

The criteria were drawn up by the European Commissions Joint Research Centre – the EUs scientific and technical research laboratory and state that as well as not exceeding the 2% contamination level, scrap must not contain excessive metal oxide and must be free from visible oil and oily emulsions.

It also includes requirements for copper scrap to be separately collected and sorted from other waste materials.

The British Metals Recycling Association (BMRA), which represents metal recyclers in the UK has also called on the European Council to reach agreement on the End of Waste criteria as quickly as possible.

BMRA director general Ian Hetherington said: The BMRA is in support of scrap copper achieving end-of-waste status but we believe that the 2% limit of foreign materials is not at the correct level and have made the UK government aware of this. Despite our concerns that the purity level is too high, we would rather secure the reclassification of copper scrap than lose this status trying to negotiate purity levels.