The Bureau of International Recycling (BIR) has welcomed the move after it called for “greater transparency” in late February.
The new data allows recyclers across all material streams to determine whether their specific materials and commodities have been included in their country’s application.
Although this data does not mean that each of these applications has been accepted, it indicates the potential materials that may flow from the EU to the approved countries if their applications are accepted.
New rules under the EU’s Waste Shipment Regulation 1157/2024 (WSR) required countries outside of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (non-OECD) to submit a request by 21 February 2025 to be able to continue importing recycled materials classified as waste from the EU.
If no request was submitted by the deadline, a blanket ban on EU exports of recycled materials was set to take effect by 21 May 2027.
However, the EC has now said that – given that nearly 150 countries have not applied – late submissions will be allowed, but approval is not guaranteed.
Arnaud Brunet, BIR director general, commented: “We are delighted that the Commission has responded constructively to our call for this critical information to be made public.
“This demonstrates the value of open dialogue between industry and policymakers, and represents a positive step towards minimising disruption to global recycling supply chains as the new regulations are implemented.”
The BIR has reminded its members that countries will only be allowed to import non-hazardous waste (i.e. Listed in Annex III, IIIA, IIIB of the WSR) – meaning that waste codes starting with the letter A in the list will most likely not be approved by the Commission.
24 non-OECD counties submitted their applications ahead of the deadline: Bangladesh, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Egypt, El Salvador, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Moldova, Monaco, Morocco, Nigeria, North-Macedonia, Pakistan, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Togo, Tunisia, Ukraine and Vietnam.
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