When I joined the metal recycling industry three and a half years ago, I was familiar with the metals supply chain but knew very little about the world of recycling.
Lindsay Millington is Director General of the British Metals Recycling Association, the trade association for ferrous and non ferrous metal recycling companies. She represents the industry on a number of UK and European bodies, including Defra's waste strategy stakeholder group and the BERR end-of-life vehicle consultation group. Ms Millington is leaving the BMRA at the end of March.
As I visited sites around the country, three things stood out. First, that this is an extremely successful industry run mainly by small, family-owned companies (even the biggest companies are still in the first generation of amalgamations, and the family members are still evident). Second, that the industry has to deal with more regulation than almost any other industry in the UK economy. And, third, that recovered metal, which meets clearly defined specifications and is often highly priced and traded in international commodity markets, is labelled ‘waste' and therefore subject to shipping controls that don't apply to competitors outside Europe.
Somehow things didn't stack up. It appeared that Government was oblivious to the contribution metal recyclers make to the UK's economic and environmental performance. And as a result seemed loathe to redress the regulatory imbalances that hamper metals trading.
Metal recycling has been largely ignored simply because it is so successful commercially. It hasn't needed government help to find markets; and only some of its supply comes from household waste. So Defra's Waste Strategy only gives the industry a brief mention, focussing on metal packaging – food and beverage cans – which accounts for only 3% of the metal we recover every year.
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The UK has one of the world's most successful and competitive metal recycling industries. It is one of the largest exporters of recovered metals. It trades across the globe. Companies in the UK are taking a lead position in developing new media separation technology and opening up new markets for non-metallic recovered materials. The government needs to work with us to capitalise on these strengths.
Now, like other industries, metal recycling has been hit by the recession. Our markets tend to mirror that for virgin raw materials and other commodity markets such as oil, and that is what we are seeing now. Government action to lift the burden of regulation is essential if we are to emerge from the recession with our pole position maintained. A good start would be for Defra and other UK Ministers to actively call for an end to the European ‘waste' label.
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