Shipping controls designed to prevent the dumping of problem wastes are destroying customer confidentiality.
Peter Brookes, BMRA
Peter Brookes was addressing members of the Association at its annual dinner in Birmingham, calling for politicians to recognise the contribution of the £5bn metals recycling industry to UK recycling targets as well as the British economy.
He said: “Now is the time to get the infrastructure and legislation right – for industry as well as for the regulators – so that the UK can truly maximise the environmental and economic benefits of recycling metals.”
Red tape
Mr Brookes, who runs Midlands firm Brookes Recycling Group, said 15 million tonnes of metal are being recycled every year in the UK, but that “creeping bureaucratisation and over-regulation” is now hampering business development.
He pointed out that metal recyclers are key to meeting national vehicle, packaging and waste electronics recycling targets – which will soon by joined by new battery recycling targets under Europe's Battery Directive.
But the BMRA President warned: “The average site operator has to juggle 15-20 different strands of environmental regulation. This is not merely confusing, it adds significantly to administration and costs, which ultimately affects trading prices and commercial viability.”
Shipping
At an event raising money for the Association of Children's Hospices, concerns about the new shipping controls – which came in last year (see letsrecycle.com story) – were widespread among the audience of nearly 500.
The BMRA president reflected these concerns regarding measures within the Transfrontier Shipment of Waste Regulations that require exporters of waste materials to reveal which reprocessors are receiving material.
The biggest exporter of scrap metal in Europe, the UK exported 7.4 million tonnes of recovered metals in 2006, and Mr Brookes warned that this performance was now threatened.
He said: “Shipping controls designed to prevent the dumping of problem wastes are destroying customer confidentiality and preventing legitimate international trade. Ultimately, this will damage not only the metals recycling industry, but also the UK's recycling achievement.”
Mr Brookes said the BMRA, which has 300 member companies, was aiming to raise its profile in 2008 with “substantial investment” in communications.
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