Monitoring impacts from Council Regulation (EU) No 333/2011: End-of-waste criteria for Al/Fe scrap

Abstract

On 9 October 2011, Council Regulation 333/2011 came into force establishing criteria by which scrap from iron and steel, aluminium and aluminium alloys could cease to be regulated as waste. This study examines the impacts of the Regulation on scrap availability, trade flows, prices, administrative requirements and environment or human health incidents. Because no data currently distinguishes between waste and end-of-waste compliant scrap, information was collected from the EU Competent Authorities and industry using detailed surveys. Across Europe, approximately 250 companies provided responses to the industry survey (representing approximately one quarter of the membership of the scrap industry associations), with a further 15 submissions from industry associations and 25 from Competent Authorities, although the survey responses were notably skewed towards Italy. The results of the study show that more than 1,100 scrap industry companies are already using the end-of-waste criteria across Europe. Uptake is most pronounced in Italy, where over 1,000 scrap companies generate end-of-waste compliant scrap. This rapid uptake in Italy is due in part to a specific legal framework on secondary raw materials already in place before the introduction of the end-of-waste criteria. In the rest of Europe there are a further 100 scrap companies active in end-of-waste scrap. In terms of the quantity of end-of-waste compliant scrap available on the market, this study estimates that, as a lower bound, at least 15% of EU scrap steel and 10% of EU scrap aluminium is compliant. Importantly, this study has found almost no evidence that end-of-waste has caused any negative impacts on the market, whether that be to scrap quality, availability/trade or on the environment. On the contrary, quite a number of the survey participants, both from industry and Competent Authorities highlighted the perceived benefits of the introduction of end-of-waste for metal scrap. These perceived benefits include: creating a simplified regulatory framework and offering companies greater flexibility and legal certainty. Some companies identified improved scrap quality and increased sales prices. At the expert workshop participants debated several ideas for a future monitoring system. One key conclusion was that there is no urgent need to revisit monitoring in the near future, due to the relatively modest rate of uptake outside Italy and the very few, if any, negative impacts observed so far. A repeat of the industry and authorities’ surveys in 2-3 years times was deemed to be the most appropriate way to monitor end-of-waste for scrap metal, and copper scrap could be added to the scope of that exercise.