<article><p class="lead">Concerns over the scope of EU proposals to restrict scrap metal exports have intensified sharply in recent weeks in response to a more aggressive lobbying approach by the trading bloc's steelmakers and primary metal producers.</p><p>Speakers and delegates at the Bureau of International Recycling (BIR) conference in Barcelona widely voiced opposition on Monday to both <a href="https://direct.argusmedia.com/newsandanalysis/article/2274734">existing EU proposals to control scrap metal exports to non-OECD countries</a>, and to a recent call by the European steel industry Eurofer to <a href="https://direct.argusmedia.com/newsandanalysis/article/2330361">extend the full extent of controls to OECD countries as well</a>.</p><p>"The tone is getting more aggressive," said Murat Bayram, managing director for non-ferrous metals at European Metal Recycling. "We have never seen the steel industry associations and the non-ferrous associations working together in the EU, together with Brussels, to influence policy makers more and more."</p><p>The catalyst for the intensified lobbying around scrap exports was the presentation of the draft proposal of the revised European Waste Shipment Regulation (WSR) to the European Parliament earlier this month, and the accompanying submission of draft amendments to the proposal by affected industries.</p><p>Antoine Stilo, policy officer at European recycling association Euric, said that only minor amendments to mitigate the waste export restrictions have been achieved so far. These amendments include an increase of the speed at which new non-OECD countries can be considered to be approved to receive EU scrap exports from every two years to every one year, and a specification that exports to any OECD country must increase by more than 30pc of a specific waste stream over three months before that country be subject to heightened monitoring, as opposed to a previous less-defined definition of "considerable increase".</p><p>Lobbying over the WSR will now intensify ahead of the European Parliament's final vote on the legislation, set for October 2022. BIR trade and environment director Ross Bartley said the options for any significant deviation from the existing draft proposal in favour of the recycling or steelmaking industries are narrowing, but that there are still options on the table for an altered approach.</p><p>Delegates told <i>Argus</i> that the steel industry is now actively pushing for the more sweeping export controls outlined by Eurofer earlier this month — but they also stressed that the new WSR regulations will be enormously disruptive to scrap export trade even without modification. </p><p>Bayram highlighted the current fall in scrap demand from European secondary aluminium producers because of disruption to demand from the automotive industry, stating that export markets provide recyclers with alternative outlets when local requirement falls in this way. </p><p>Stilo warned that export restrictions will lead to consolidation of the metals recycling to just a few small players, heavy job losses and an eventual rise in European consumers' scrap prices because of the lack of competition in a smaller market.</p><p>Multiple speakers called for recyclers both inside and outside the EU to ramp up engagement with the WSR process through lobbying of policymakers — with Bartley noting that the European Commission has yet to receive any direct input from a non-European recycling company or trade association outside Europe that would be affected by export controls.</p><p>"This is really five minutes to 12," said Bayram. "Talk to your policymakers, make them aware that we are not against our partners in Europe but that if the international business does not exist we will not be able to invest in technology, we won't be able to recover metals that are winning us the profit we need to hire people, to invest in machines and create something real."</p><p class="bylines">By Ronan Murphy and Corey Aunger</p></article>
