Page 41 from: Recycling International January/February issue 2023

41recyclinginternational.com | January/Febuary | 2023

SCRAP TRADE

Tackling illegal waste or
hampering free trade?

tries that give consent and demon-
strate the ability to treat the waste sus-
tainably. MEPs also supported a
Commission proposal to explicitly pro-
hibit shipments within the EU of all
wastes destined for disposal, except in
limited and well-justified cases.
The new rules would also include digi-
talising the exchange of information
and documents within the internal mar-
ket. It’s argued that storing information
in a central electronic system will
improve data reporting, analysis and
transparency.

‘BACK-DOOR PROTECTIONISM’
BIR, meanwhile, maintains that exports
to countries outside the EU – both
OECD and developing (non-OECD)
countries – will be considerably bur-
dened by intergovernmental agree-
ments and inspections, audits and
checks on facilities in third countries. It
notes there are further legislative steps
to undergo at the Council of Ministers
before the new WSR can be imple-
mented so BIR will be working with its
members to secure their future busi-
ness.
‘Moreover, the worldwide concern
about plastic pollution will likely lead
to a prohibition on plastic recyclables
exports from the EU, and furthermore
has led to harsher conditions on
exports of other recyclables desired by
industries around the world,’ BIR
insists.
BIR president Tom Bird is concerned at
the potential damage to the interna-
tional recycling industry. ‘These regula-
tions represent a thinly disguised back-
door protectionism that puts our indus-
try in danger while severely disrupting
the global circular economy,’ he says.
‘It should be blatantly clear to every-
body that the trade of vital raw materi-
als such as recycled metals should not
be restricted. BIR as an organisation
remains fully committed to ensuring
exactly that – free trade of recyclables
in a global circular economy.’

LACK OF HARMONY
EuRIC, an umbrella organisation for
European recyclers, says it is encour-
aged by the Parliament’s support of
the proposals to facilitate the export of
recycled materials within the EU, such

as establishing English as the common
language or extended time limits for
receiving shipments.

‘Nevertheless, the lack of harmonised
end-of-waste criteria and rules that
allow Member States to reject ship-
ments will continue to impede a func-
tioning single market for recycled
materials in Europe,’ it says. It also
complains that MEPs have reinforced a
one-size-fits-all approach to export
restrictions.
Emmanuel Katrakis, EuRIC secretary
general, says recycled materials already
struggle to compete with extracted raw
materials. ‘If current waste shipment
proposals are adopted, this will be yet
another major setback for Europe’s
recycling industries and our climate
Ambitions. If the EU wants a vibrant
recycling industry that leads the circu-
lar economy transition and reinvests in
Europe, it must establish rules that
accelerate rather than impede demand
for recycled materials.’

FEAD VIEW
FEAD, the umbrella organisation for
trade bodies within the EU, argues the
exports regime proposed by the
Commission inm he updated WSR is a
‘de facto export ban’.

‘FEAD reiterates that it remains essen-
tial to safely ship non-hazardous
“green listed” waste, which is a com-
modity, beyond EU borders to be inte-
grated as secondary raw materials in
manufacturing processes,’ it says. ‘The
extreme administrative burden that is
intended to be put on third countries
to be able to receive such green listed
waste will have a disproportionate
deterrent effect, while sound environ-
mental management, transparency,
and traceability can be equally and suf-
ficiently ensured through audit proce-
dures.’
A major target for EC policy makers
are illegal waste shipments and waste
criminality.
FEAD is calling on legislators to rein-
force controls and enforcement mea-
sures, to improve traceability and
cooperation among Member States,
and to establish strong harmonised
end-of-waste criteria and criteria to
distinguish between used goods and
waste.
‘FEAD calls for a strong demand of
secondary raw materials and safe
waste shipments with clear, efficient,
and harmonised rules, to enable the
re-incorporation of those valuable
materials back into the circular econo-
my.’

Fotobijschrift

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION PERSPECTIVE
Shipments of hazardous waste and waste destined for disposal are prohibited to non-OECD
countries outside the EU. Shipments to OECD countries are generally subject to the ‘prior
notification and consent’ procedure which requires the prior written consent of all relevant
authorities of dispatch, transit and destination. To speed up the procedure, Member States
can designate ‘pre-consented recovery facilities’ for which more lenient procedures apply
and for which they will normally not raise objections as competent authority of destination.
On 17 November 2021, the Commission adopted a proposal for a new regulation on waste
shipmates. Waste exports to non-OECD countries will be restricted and only allowed if third
countries are willing to receive certain wastes and are able to manage them sustainably.
Waste shipments to OECD countries will be monitored and can be suspended if they gener-
ate serious environmental problems in the country of destination. Under the proposal, all EU
companies that export waste outside the EU should ensure that the facilities receiving their
waste are subject to an independent audit showing that they manage this waste in an envi-
ronmentally sound manner.
The regulation further strengthens action against waste trafficking, one of the most serious
forms of environmental crime as illegal shipments potentially comprise up to 30% of waste
shipments worth EUR 9.5 billion annually.
Within the EU, the Commission is proposing to simplify the established procedures consider-
ably… bringing waste shipments to the digital era by introducing electronic exchange of doc-
umentation.BIR maintains that exports to countries outside the EU – both OECD and developing (non-OECD) countries – will be considerably burdened by

intergovernmental agreements and inspections, audits and checks on facilities in third countries.

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