BMRA challenges Defra review of metal recycling exemptions

Archiv – An initiative to change the so-called ’Paragraph 45’ exemption for metal recyclers by the UK Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has incensed the British Metal Recycling Association (BMRA). ’Paragraph 45’ from the UK Waste Management Licensing involves the scrap metal recovery exemption for waste management. It also covers the dismantling of waste motor vehicles from which any potentially polluting substances such as the oil, anti-freeze and fuel have already been removed.United Kingdom | An initiative to change the so-called ’Paragraph 45’ exemption for metal recyclers by the UK Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has incensed the British Metal Recycling Association (BMRA). ’Paragraph 45’ from the UK Waste Management Licensing involves the scrap metal recovery exemption for waste management. It also covers the dismantling of waste motor vehicles from which any potentially polluting substances such as the oil, anti-freeze and fuel have already been removed.
Defra’s plans to revise current Paragraph 45 metal recycling exemptions will result in additional burdens on business and will discourage the small operator from recycling, says the BMRA.
The BMRA has written to Defra outlining its opposition to the changes the department proposes to make to Paragraph 45 recycling exemptions. The Association highlighted the potential additional regulatory burden on small businesses; lack of evidence that the current system is failing, and the revised regulatory regime being out of proportion to identified risks, as areas of concern.
Commenting on Defra’s consultation, Lindsay Millington, Director General of the BMRA says: ’In proposing changes to Paragraph 45 exemptions for metal recyclers, Defra is out-of-step with recent Government announcements, which promise to protect small businesses and lighten regulation during the economic slowdown.’ According to Mrs Millington, Defra’s proposals will put a squeeze on small-scale recyclers by adding to their administrative burden and increasing operating costs. Defra’s changes will also make it easier for sites operating on the margins of the system to appear part of the regulated community, she adds’In our view Defra has failed to make a case for change. Metal recycling is a key activity for UK plc. Compared with other materials streams metal recycling is low risk and regulation needs to be proportionate to risk, not ’one-size-fits-all’.’
The BMRA says the industry has been subjected to a series of regulatory changes in recent years and in current trading conditions needs to be left to concentrate on operational rather than policy matters. ’Now is not the time to review the metals recycling exemption. There are no environmental benefits to Defra’s Paragraph 45 suggestions, only the risk of economic damage to a business sector that contributes £5 billion to the UK’s balance of payments, ’ Lyndsay Millingtonn goes on. The BMRA is calling on Defra to abandon plans for change and to retain Paragraph 45 exemptions in their current form.