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have been unable to find scrap yards to pay cash

for their scrap – a major problem as they could

no longer ensure the money for their daily needs

in terms of food, fuel and other expenses, and

so ‘most of them stopped collecting’.

Furthermore, imports of spare parts and other

consumable parts used in the production pro-

cesses of recycling companies have become

‘very difficult or even impossible’ because

Greek banks have not been in a position to send

remittances abroad.

Boost for ‘illegal’ sector
Another phenomenon observed within the

Greek scrap market at present is the expansion

of ‘illegal exports’ of recyclable waste to neigh-

bouring countries to the north, such as Bulgar-

ia where dealers can secure payment in cash.

Bulgaria’s shadow traders are managing to

expand their operations in Greece via this ille-

gal transboundary movement of waste –

untaxed, unlicensed and unnoticed by the

authorities in both countries.

According to Bakirtzides, these conditions have

provided ‘a boost’ for the estimated 300 ‘illegal’

scrap yards across Greece which are operating

‘without any official papers and permissions or

environmental protection’. Greek recyclers

have warned that this new cash activity has

reinvigorated the ‘darkest part’ of the country’s

scrap supply chain, causing the major problems

of ‘unfair competition for the legitimate Greek

scrap companies’ and also of ‘huge tax evasion’

with regard to what is owed the Greek state.

Shredders’ limited use
Unsurprisingly, ferrous scrap flows and volumes

in Greece are claimed to have reached record

lows. In 2015, less than 350 000 tonnes of ferrous

scrap will be generated as against 1.3 million

tonnes in 2006. With shrunken steel demand,

Greek mills are currently utilising ‘very little’ of

their capacity, several industry experts have con-

firmed to Recycling International.

A similar story is told with regard to shredder

capacity. There are five shredders in Greece –

most of which are located around the capital

Athens – and only 20% of their capacity is cur-

rently being utilised, it is calculated. Pan Metal,

the company of Nikolaos Bakirtzides located

near Greece’s second city Thessaloniki, is one

of those to run a shredder. ‘Unfortunately, it

operates only three months per year,’ he says.

In better times, Pan Metal had 30 employees

but now there are only 12 left.

Paper exports suffer too
According to Panayiotes Skiadas of Sepan, the

crisis has also had a major impact on exports

of paper and plastics scrap. ‘Greece has always

been a big supplier of paper and plastic scrap,

predominantly to customers in Asia,’ he

explains. ‘But since demand there has declined

and since supplies in Greece have decreased due

to less economic activity, lower consumption

and less waste output, the volumes have become

dramatically lower too.’

Major setback follows
multi-million investment
Headquartered some 10 kilometres outside
the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki, Pan
Metal – a recycling company owned by Niko-
laos Bakirtzides – operates facilities occupying
a total area of around 25 000 square metres.
Between 2005 and 2010, the company invest-
ed some Euro 3.5 million in machinery and
equipment to handle car bodies, e-scrap and
metal packaging, as well as metal waste
originating from dismantling and demolition
projects. In addition, the fi rm installed a new
shredder – one of fi ve operating nationwide –
and an eddy current sorting line to separate
ferrous metals from non-ferrous. Furthermore,
Pan Metal’s operations were brought into ‘full
compliance’ with EU and national environmen-
tal legislation.
Unfortunately, all this effort and innovation did
not bring the company and its owners what
they had aimed for. The investments had not
even been completed when the company was
confronted with the economic downturn and
Euro crisis. Currently, Pan Metal is not even
utilising half of its production capacity.

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Greece’s built-on-cash scrap sector
among ‘worst hit’ by capital controls

RI-7 p00_Greece-Coverstory.indd 31 07-09-15 10:19