Recyclers ‘hold breath’ ahead of revised EU shipment rules

The draft proposal is scheduled for publication on Wednesday (17 November). The BIR says the proposal “demands much tighter rules for EU exports of green-listed waste”, covering a number of raw materials from recycling, except in cases where the conditions applied in the receiving country are “broadly equivalent” to those within the EU itself.

The Brussels-based BIR is an international trade association for the recycling sector, with around 70 countries represented. Its online Global eForum is taking place throughout November.

At a webinar hosted by the BIR’s International Environment Council (IEC) on 10 November, Emmanuel Katrakis, secretary general of the European Recycling Industries’ Confederation, said: “Free and fair trade is absolutely needed when it comes to raw materials from recycling which are meeting international industrial specifications and for which the market is both European and global.”

Extending restrictions to materials from recycling which are “unlikely to pose any problem” if exported beyond the EU would be akin to “throwing the baby out with the bath water”, he added.

Mr Katrakis argued that the EU should concentrate on rewarding benefits accrued from recycling to “level the playing field with virgin materials”, rather than export restrictions.

Concern

The BIR says the IEC’s chairman, Olivier François of Belgian metals recycling specialist Galloo, told the webinar that international trade served to balance supply surpluses and demand deficits across all parts of the world.

The circular economy exists already – it’s just that it’s not local

– Olivier François, chairman of BIR’s International Environment Council

“The circular economy exists already – it’s just that it’s not local,” he claimed “It’s a circular economy at a global level. This circular economy is working.”

EU export restrictions could lead to retaliatory action by other countries, Mr François warned.

Ross Bartley, the BIR’s trade and environment director, is said to have expressed concerns that the impact of an EU export ban or restrictions “may well be felt very quickly”. He recalled the financial crisis of 2008 and 2009, when markets collapsed but collections continued largely as before, resulting “almost immediately” in storage problems.

‘Ill-conceived’

At another webinar on 8 November, Joost Van Kleef, chair of the BIR’s Stainless Steel and Special Alloys Committee, spoke out against the “ill-conceived” regulatory proposals.

“No circular economy can be seriously considered and achieved without a fluid global market of raw materials for recycling,” he said.

He added: “It is only through maximizing substitution of primary with raw materials from recycling that we will succeed in optimizing the climate change mitigation effects of recycling.”

The webinar also heard from Rosie Hill, business development manager at UK-based Ireland Alloys, who said there had been a “quicker-than-anticipated” recovery in superalloys demand following the “brutal” impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

She said there had been “green shoots of demand” emerging since June this year. The supply chain is currently gearing up in anticipation of a further significant improvement in 2022, she claimed.

Ms Hill told the webinar an “incredible” array of challenges continued to confront the superalloys market, including labour and container shortages, higher freight costs, and the “still unclear” situation surrounding China’s customs reclassifications.

However, she said: “There are signs of improvement and we have a positive outlook for 2022.”

Record prices

Meanwhile, a separate webinar of the BIR’s plastics committee on the same day heard that an imbalance between supply and demand was driving record prices for recycled materials.

Prices have now reached levels we never expected in the past

– Henk Alssema, chairman of the BIR’s plastics committee

Henk Alssema, the Dutch chairman of the committee, said: “Prices have now reached levels we never expected in the past. There is a growing shift from using prime materials to recycled materials, driven by an increasing number of companies switching to circular business models.

“The question is whether we, as the recycling industry, can continue to supply sufficient recycled material to the plastics industry as more companies move to the use of recycled materials.”

Max Craipeau of China-based Greencore Resources Ltd is said to have suggested that larger brands were signing recycled material supply contracts for the next two years, making it difficult for smaller players to enter the market.

Paper

And, the board of the BIR Paper Division announced the appointment of Francisco Donoso as its new president on 10 November.

Mr Donoso is managing director at ALBA Servicios Verdes (Spain) and has been active on the divisional board since 2008.

Tom Bird, the BIR’s president, welcomed Mr Donoso’s appointment and said: “Francisco has not only a deep knowledge of the paper recycling industry but also of the important associative work provided by BIR’s Paper Division.

“I am sure that under his leadership, the division will grow and diversify in order to reflect the global importance of the recovered paper industry.”