Europe – The European Union adopted its first end-of-waste regulation on March 31, covering iron and steel scrap and aluminium scrap. Its aim is to stimulate recycling markets by defining more clearly when recovered material ceases to be waste and can be dealt with as raw material or ‘other products’.
A lack of clear criteria in the past has led member states to develop different, sometimes incompatible, frameworks for regulating recovered materials, says the EU Environment Directorate.
It adds that the new regulation will create legal certainty and harmonise conditions across Europe for the recycling industry, boosting raw materials supply to industry by reducing the administrative burden on recyclers and removing secondary materials categorised as safe and clean from the scope of waste legislation.
Scrap metal does not have to be classified as waste under the regulation in cases where processors apply a quality management system and show they are complying with the new criteria by issuing a statement of conformity for each consignment.
Scrap metal does not have to be classified as waste under the regulation in cases where processors apply a quality management system and show they are complying with the new criteria by issuing a statement of conformity for each consignment.
Any kind of treatment, such as cutting, shredding, cleaning and removal of pollutants needed to prepare the scrap for the final use in steel or aluminium works or foundries, must be completed before the metal scrap can be released from waste status. For example, cars have to be dismantled, fluids and hazardous compounds removed and the metal fraction treated in order to recover clean metal scrap that meets the end-of-waste criteria.
Environment Commissioner Janez Potočnik says: ‘We must start treating waste as a valuable resource, and the adoption of these end-of-waste criteria for material streams will really boost our recycling industry and services. It marks another important step towards Europe’s goal of becoming a resource-efficient economy and a recycling society.’
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