Against the call made by the European Steel Association (EUROFER) for immediate measures to tackle scrap leakage, EuRIC, the European Recycling Industries’ Confederation, has warned against imposing any restrictions on scrap exports, claiming that scrap exports have been keeping recycling businesses alive, serving as a counterbalance to the extremely low EU demand for recycled materials.
EUROFER and European Aluminium recently stated that the volume of scrap that should be recycled in Europe for the decarbonization of their value chain and to save the energy required for primary aluminum and steel production, is drastically diminishing due to increasing scrap exports, as SteelOrbis previously reported.
Stating that restricting the EU’s scrap exports will have a detrimental consequences for the environment, the economy and the region’s competitiveness, EuRIC noted that any calls by the European steel and aluminum industry to restrict scrap exports are completely unjustifiable and unacceptable, especially when the supply of recycled scrap has never been the reason behind any decreased activity by EU mills.
EuRIC stated that trade challenges cannot be addressed through protectionism and that protectionist measures must not work against Europe’s circularity backbone - the European recycling industry. The confederation urges EU policymakers to preserve open trade and to only endorse measures that encourage them to keep innovating and generating resources.