The case was brought by the British government and the Environment Agency who opposed an argument by Mayer Parry Recycling.
The company had argued in the British courts that when it turned packaging waste metal into a grade of metal for use in the steelworks it had reprocessed the material or recycled the packaging waste. As a consequence Mayer Parry Recycling (now part of European Metal Recycling) should be entitled to issue PRNs (packaging waste recovery notes), the company reasoned. It now looks as though it has lost this argument.
The European Court ruled that the production of the metal by Mayer Parry does not constitute reprocessing of metal packaging waste with the objective of returning that material to its original state, namely steel. A spokesman for the court said the ruling was that: “The material is only recycled once it has been turned into proper steel again, such as ingots and bars.”
The case is expected to have big implications for other companies in the UK, particularly in the recovered paper sector where merchants had argued that by collecting material ready for a paper mill they should be able to issue PRNs.
A more detailed report of the case will appear on letsrecycle.com shortly with a response from European Metal Recycling.
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