Page 21 from: November 2012

21November 2012

Economic nationalism
To cap it all, the crisis has precipitated a

renewed economic nationalism. In a growing

number of countries, there are calls to restrict

imports and exports of primary and secondary

raw materials in order to protect domestic

industries. This presents a serious threat to the

European recycling industry: in Europe, much

lower volumes of secondary raw materials are

processed than are collected, which means that

export restrictions are leading to surpluses. A

sustained fall in prices and bankruptcies are all

too likely.

One of the material streams suffering from such

barriers is scrap plastic. Although the market

as a whole is growing, some countries are clos-

ing their doors to imports. China wants only

high-quality material, the USA has put scrap

plastic on the red list, and the doorway to the

Indian market has been reduced to just a crack.

Mr Borad sketches out the consequences: ‘In

2010, Europe produced about 24 million tonnes

of scrap plastic. Only about 6 million tonnes of

this is recycled – half in Europe and the other

half elsewhere. As Europe does not have suffi-

cient processing capacity, we are left with a lot

of plastic for export. If other countries close

their borders – for example, in retaliation for

our export restrictions – then we will be left

with a gigantic mountain of surplus plastic.’

That is why the recycling industry repeatedly

emphasises the importance of free trade, which

it argues is beyond dispute. No country is inde-

pendent with regard to its raw material needs.

Every country benefits from a functioning

international market for raw materials, includ-

ing those obtained from secondary material

streams, which is why industry needs increasing

harmonisation of the environmental, public

health and quality aspects of raw materials. Free

markets lead to competitive prices and an

increasingly efficient recycling infrastructure.

And most importantly of all, a global market

stimulates technological innovation.

The ‘miracle’ of Cartagena
Not only the plastics sector but also the tyre

industry is facing import and export restric-

tions. This is a cause for concern to Barend ten

Bruggencate of the Netherlands, who has spent

his whole working life in the tyre industry and

is Chairman of the BIR Tyres Committee. He

says that although the market for end-of-life

tyres is internationally oriented, some countries

do not permit any imports, justifying their

position by invoking the Basel Convention on

the Control of Transboundary Movements of

Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal.

In this respect, the outcome of the Basel Con-

vention’s 10th Conference of the Parties gives

grounds for hope. Some have already dubbed

this agreement the ‘miracle of Cartagena’, refer-

ring to the Colombian city where the gathering

was held. The breakthrough was that waste is

now not just seen as an unwanted and costly

by-product of modern consuming society, but

also as a potentially valuable raw material offer-

ing numerous opportunities for green jobs and

green industry.

According to Dr Katharina Kummer Peiry, the

Executive Secretary of the Basel Convention, it

means ‘Basel’ is no longer synonymous with the

control and prohibition of waste transactions.

‘This is an extremely important change in the

position held by governments,’ she says.

However, last June’s UN Conference on Sus-

tainable Development (Rio+20) let the oppor-

tunity slip to endorse the value of waste as a raw

material.

Under threat
According to Christian Rubach, President of

the Ferrous Division of the BIR, the market for

scrap steel has so far been the freest in the

world. There are no monopolies, and even the

biggest scrap producer is a relatively small

player. Factors hindering free trade are the

Euro/US dollar exchange rate and high trans-

port costs. But this sector too is under threat

from intervention in the free market by govern-

ments that prefer to keep scrap steel for their

own industries.

According to the OECD, currently 20% of the

scrap steel market is subject to import and

export restrictions. Mr Rubach fears that this

situation will continue for some time. ‘Each

country blames the others,’ he says. ‘Their rea-

soning is as follows: “If China imposes export

restrictions on its rare earth elements, we will

By Han van de Wiel

Christian Rubach:
‘Each country blames

the others.’

In 2010, Europe produced about 24 million tonnes of scrap plastic.
Only some 6 million tonnes of this is recycled – half in Europe and the
other half elsewhere.

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