The Bureau of International Recycling has set out the impact of changes announced by the authorities in China to increase the import of recycled copper and aluminium.
China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment had said the changes would apply from 15 November but it has taken time for the new regulations to be fully understood.
Writing in BIR’s latest Non-Ferrous Mirror, regional expert Ma Hongchang says that recycled copper and copper alloy as well as recycled aluminium/aluminium alloy raw materials will not be considered solid waste and can therefore be freely imported – provided they are of the quality set out in the BIR summary.
No mixing
He explains: ‘The different types of recycled copper and aluminium raw materials are not allowed to be mixed and cannot be declared under the same customs declaration form during customs clearance.
‘Bulk recycled copper and aluminium raw materials of different categories are not allowed to be mixed unless they are packaged independently and placed separately.’
Visual inspection used at first but if it cannot be determined whether the materials meet the requirements, the corresponding methods from customs industry technical specifications or national standards GB/T 38470, GB/T 38471, GB/T 38472, GB/T 40382 and GB/T 40386 should be used for inspection.
Quality warning
Hongchang warns if the customs authorities find the recycled copper and aluminium materials are in fact solid waste, they ‘can entrust professional institutions with conducting an identification process so that the materials can then be managed appropriately in accordance with the law’.
The Mirror also contains an observation from board member Shen Dong, on Omnisource in the USA, that China’s annual GDP growth had slowed to 4.7% in 2023. However, with policy easing and additional stimulus measures, the first half of 2024 saw the economy grow at 5%, with 4.8% projected for the whole year.
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