space Press Releases, News Stories

by Camilla Reed, Reuters

Florian Ermacora of the European Commission's (EC) environment directorate (DG XI) said declassifying scrap just because it had an economic value held no truck with the Commission.

"The justification on economic grounds is not enough. We have to ask ourselves why there are certain standards," Ermacora told Reuters at a conference in Brussels earlier this week.

Some metal scrap did pose environmental risks and it was impossible to say that all scrap was not hazardous, he said.

"We are aware of cases where metal scrap with radioactive contamination was floating around...We need measures to control this type of thing. We could not do this if we excluded scrap from waste legislation," Ercamora said.

The global recycling industry has said it is under enormous burdens as a result of the confusion between scrap and waste and legislation should be changed to take this into account.

It says trade in scrap metal, used as a secondary raw material, is hindered by costly regulations designed to cover waste disposal.

Ermacora said the industry should not hold out hope for scrap to be taken out of waste legislation, as has happened in the U.S.

Since April 1997 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has differentiated between scrap and waste, withdrawing certain materials from waste management legislation.

"It is unlikely that we follow the U.S. route," he told Reuters.

About 90 million tonnes of ferrous scrap is used by the EU's steelmakers as a secondary raw material each year.

Within the EU, some seven million tonnes of non-ferrous metals are imported and exported annually, with a metal value of $10 billion, the European Metal Trade and Recycling Federation said.

Non-ferrous primary and secondary metals producers also expect a slew of legislation as the Commission cracks down on heavy metals, which they say damage human health and the environent.

"It is an important issue for waste management. It is clear how the process is going for the moment," Ercamora said. He said that bans on metals such as cadmium, lead and mercury were on the agenda in a number of first drafts for proposed legislation.