Organizations representing the sector oppose excessive regulation

The German associations for steel recycling and disposal (BDSV), secondary raw materials and waste management (bvse), and the association of steel traders and recyclers (VDM) have issued a joint appeal to the European Commission. They criticised the restrictions on steel and scrap exports currently being discussed in Brussels.

The appeal is addressed to Teresa Ribera, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission and Commissioner for Competition.

The industry associations consider the proposed measures to be a major intervention in the functioning of the recycling markets. Among other things, the criticism focuses on the new waste transport regulation, the Critical Raw Materials Act, and the European Action Plan for Steel and Metals. From the associations’ point of view, these initiatives lead to political restrictions or the de facto prevention of scrap exports to third countries.

“They pretend that the structural and production problems of the steel industry can be solved by restricting the sales markets of the recycling industry, even though there is no shortage of scrap. This is simply an attempt to lower market prices,” says BDSV Managing Director Guido Lipinski.

In his opinion, excessive regulation of functioning scrap markets threatens thousands of medium-sized enterprises and carries the risk of destroying the circular economy.

According to the statement, about 59% of steel in the EU is already produced from scrap. In Germany alone, the scrap processing sector comprises several thousand companies.

bvse Managing Director Eric Rehbock notes that Brussels’ industrial policy sends a signal that investments in modern processing and sorting technologies are risky because markets can be closed politically at any time. VDM Managing Director Ralf Schmitz, in turn, points out that companies in the sector compete for scrap and sales markets on a global scale. According to him, Europe’s isolation in this matter weakens the international competitiveness of the recycling industry and makes European industry more dependent in the long term.

The associations warn against the misuse of export restrictions as a simple answer to the problems of individual industries. They believe that the scrap processing sector needs reliable and investment-friendly framework conditions.

A coalition of leading UK steel producers and representatives of the steel processing sector has called on the country’s authorities to take swift action to unlock the economic and environmental potential of scrap steel use. The country produces approximately 10 million tons of steel scrap annually, with more than 80% of this resource currently being exported.