Page 11 from: November/December issue

TRENDS & UPDATES

11recyclinginternational.com | November/December | 2018

New data: the worst recycliNg NatioNs iN the eU?
The European Commission says 14 EU Member States are ‘at risk’ of missing the
mandatory 50% household recycling rate target set for 2020. It has released a new
report ranking the ‘worst recyclers’.
Poland is slowly climbing out of the lower tier of Europe’s recycling ranks. The country cur-
rently recycles almost 45% of its waste while around 35% goes to landfills. This represents
one of the lowest landfilling rates among the 14 low-performing countries. Another exam-
ple of a country on its way up is Finland, which recycles 42% of its post-consumer materials.
As in previous years, Malta is the worst recycler. Its recycling rate is stuck at only 7%,
while 83% of its waste is sent to landfills. Malta thus boasts the lowest recycling rate as
well as the highest landfilling rate.
A close second is Romania (recycling 13% of its waste while landfilling 69%), followed
by Greece (recycling 17% and landfilling over 80%) and Cyprus (recycling 17%, with
75% going to landfill).
Estonia is a remarkable case. The country may not being doing brilliantly in terms of
recycling (28%) but it manages to landfill only 10% of its material. The EU points out
that Estonia still incinerates far more than it recycles. Spain and Portugal recycled
around 31% of their material while landfilling 57% and 45% respectively. Hungary recy-
cled 35% and landfilled 51% of its post-consumer materials.
‘None of these countries is set to hit the EU recycling targets for 2020 as they current-
ly stand,’ says Adrian Gibbs, principal consultant at Eunomia, the consultancy firm that
produced the report. The EU has compiled advice for each country and it is hoped
these proposed changes may help boost recycling rates just in time.

wielaNd-aUrUbis deal still
iN doUbt
The proposed acquisition by Wieland Werke of
Aurubis Rolled Products rumbles on. The last
issue of Recycling International reported the deal
would be reviewed by the European
Commission. Now the regulators have told
Aurubis and Wieland that the transaction cannot
be approved in its current form.
A press statement from Aurubis said the EC has
sought changes that Wieland was not obliged to
offer under the agreed sale and purchase agree-
ment, making a deal less likely. Jürgen Schachler,
Aurubis executive board chairman, promised the
support of his company.
Dr. Erwin Mayr, ceo of the Wieland Group, was
quoted as saying: ‘We do not share, in this form,
the commission’s current assessment that further
conditions are necessary to approve the sale of
Aurubis AG’s flat rolled products segment to
Wieland-Werke. In our estimate, both the cus-
tomers and the entire industry would benefit
from the merger.’
However, Reuters reported on 18 October that
certain unspecified concessions had been made.
A final ruling is due in January.

FUtUre recovery: e-car batteries will deliver
billioNs iN recycled metals
Metals worth more than US$ 20 billion (EUR 17 billion) will be extracted from
electric car batteries every year 2028, according to Berenberg research. Three mil-
lion electric cars were on our roads last year and that could increase to 125 million
by 2030. Sales of e-cars in China represented half of the one million e-vehicles
sold globally in 2017. Based on this trend, Berenberg expects metals recovered
from spent car battery cells to be worth US$22 billion a year within a decade.
This benefit is because of strong demand for the battery materials lithium and
cobalt. Cobalt prices have virtually doubled in the last two years with supply con-
centrated in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Established recyclers may seem to have a head start, says Berenberg, but Chinese
battery leaders ‘can win the recycling race’. It points out that China has subsidised
electric vehicles and promoted companies like battery manufacturer CATL. Beijing
is also pressing for sales of e-cars vehicles to touch seven million by 2025.

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