Copper scrap proposal disappointing: BIR

Jan 25, 2013 | 11:14 AM | Mark Burton

Tags  BIR, Bureau of International Recycling, copper scrap, BMRA, British Metals Recycling Association, Europe, European Union, Francis Veys Ian Hetherington

LONDON — The European Commission’s proposal to categorize copper scrap as waste unless it is at least 98-percent pure copper represents a missed opportunity to reduce the administrative burden of treating and trading scrap in the European Union, according to scrap processors and traders.

But it is a victory for secondary producers who believe, rightly or wrongly, that a looser threshold would lead to a surge in scrap exports from the region.

For the Bureau of International Recycling (BIR), Brussels, and the British Metals Recycling Association (BMRA), Brampton, England, the decision to recommend a 2-percent foreign materials limit vs. the 5-percent threshold they had lobbied for is maddening and, according to BIR estimates, will mean that about 90 to 95 percent of the copper scrap processed by members and trade will continue to be classified as waste.

Both the BIR and BMRA welcome the principle of the new end-of-waste directive but bemoan its impractical stringency, they told AMM sister publication Metal Bulletin this past week. ....