Revised rules for the transport of scrap metal in the EU

The revised European regulation on the transport of ferrous scrap metal will come into force in 2024, according to Secretary General of the European Confederation of Recycling Industries Emmanuel Katrakis, and this will impose stricter obligations on EU scrap metal exporters.

The Council of the European Union is expected to present and adopt its fully revised regulation proposal between May and June, Katrakis said April 27 at a conference of the German Federal Association for Recycling and Recycling in Hamburg, Germany.

“A few large EU countries with a large supply of scrap metal currently tend to support stricter export restrictions, while smaller EU countries are more in favor of more balanced export restrictions,” Katrakis said.

As soon as the Council has finalized its compromise position, trial negotiations will begin between the EU Parliament, the European Commission and the Council, which should be completed within a few months.

“We expect the final text to be adopted no later than 2024,” Katrakis said.

In an attempt to ensure the availability of high quality scrap in the EU within the goals of the decarburization block, the revised Waste Shipment Regulation, or WSR, aims to limit the export of scrap from the EU to countries that do not have an EU waste treatment system. standards and will be required to conduct independent audits of their processing plants. Cross-border movement of waste between EU countries will be facilitated for reuse, recycling or disposal.

The EU Parliament released its negotiating position for preliminary discussions in January, which includes a proposal to limit the export of ferrous scrap only to non-OECD countries, a list of which has yet to be determined.

Stricter export regulations by 2027
The expected application of stricter ferrous scrap export regulations, as well as proposed facility audits for non-OECD scrap-buying countries, are now expected in 2027, after a three-year transition period, Katrakis said.

“The problem with the proposed audit of non-OECD scrap recycling facilities is that you cannot require a non-EU facility to comply with EU standards,” Katrakis said. “But under the proposal, European scrap exporters must prove that the buyer will be located in a non-OECD-approved country and has facilities equivalent to EU standards.”

As the WSR proposal took shape, steelmakers in the EU pushed for stricter export restrictions to secure scrap supplies, with scrap consumption expected to increase as they switch to low-carbon steel production.

Previously, scrap processors in the EU expressed concern that possible export restrictions would reduce the commercial incentive to collect and recycle ferrous scrap, as well as reduce the price of ferrous scrap in the EU.

Recyclers also suggested that the restrictions could greatly affect the export of lower quality scrap, such as heavy-melting scrap, which cannot be fully consumed in the EU even if scrap consumption increases during the decarburization process.

According to Eurostat, the EU is the world's largest exporter of ferrous scrap, and in 2021 its outflow will reach 19.5 million tons.