European recyclers are making an urgent plea to shadow rapporteurs as revised EU rules threaten to severely impact trade of recycled materials risking irreversible economic damage and job losses to Europe’s leading circular economy industries.  

“We are aligned with the EU’s vision of establishing a circular economy where waste is recycled as a priority in Europe, not elsewhere. Yet, export restrictions must not undermine an already fragmented internal market that is reliant on demand outside the EU,” says Emmanuel Katrakis, Secretary General of EuRIC, the European Recycling Industries’ Confederation. “Where access to the market for recycled materials is prohibited, recycling simply will not take place,” he added.

EU lawmakers have understood the importance of mandatory recycled content targets, but this only extends to plastics. Targets for paper and metals – 29 million tons of which are exported annually – must also be enshrined in law to ensure a European circular economy for all materials.

While the proposal to facilitate trade of recycled materials within the EU by reducing the administrative and cost burden is a step forward, ambiguous criteria for rejecting these shipments remain. Therefore, European recyclers call for clearly defined harmonised criteria for preventing abuse of intra-EU waste shipments while facilitating a deeper integration of the EU single market for recycled materials.

Note to editor:

For press-related enquiries, please contact Ben Kennard, EuRIC Communication Advisor, by email at bkennard@euric-aisbl.eu or by phone at +32 (0) 487 39 21 82.   

Recycling creates value by turning waste into recycled materials while saving energy and GHG emissions compared to extracting new raw materials. Over the last decades, Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) Schemes for different waste streams have been set up to shift the polluter-pays principle from governments, local authorities, and end-consumers to producers placing products on the market. The recent multiplication of EPR Schemes pose a serious risk to the recycling industry. Learn more about these challenges by downloading below the EuRIC position paper on EPR Schemes. 

Facilities recycling electronic waste, metal scrap, and other waste streams are increasingly confronted by fires caused by defective high-energy batteries, particularly lithium batteries. This paper highlights the urgent actions and increased cooperation along the value chain needed to tackle lithium battery fires in recycling facilities. 

The European Recycling Industries’ Confederation (EuRIC) is issuing a stark warning to European policymakers as current waste shipment proposals both risk significant job losses and hampering investment in Europe’s pioneering circular economy sector.

European recyclers already contribute 95 billion EUR in turnover to Europe’s already fragile economy. Yet up 80% of metal and paper recyclers anticipate a reduction in turnover under current waste shipment proposals. More than 300,000 EU green jobs are sustained by the sector, yet up to 50% of metal and paper recyclers warn that job losses will be inevitable.

“Policymakers have a choice. Are they on the same side as a sector at the forefront of championing a European circular economy? Or do they want to encourage the extraction of raw materials over recycling? Waste shipment rules must change course to encourage free, fair and sustainable trade of recycled materials” warned Emmanuel Katrakis, Secretary General of EuRIC.

The industry supports waste shipment restrictions that discourage exports of “problematic” waste outside the EU such as mixed plastic, unprocessed tyres, batteries and vehicules. However, it is concerned that current proposals incentivise extraction of raw materials, which is a significant source of pollution, over recycling. Not only will this hinder Europe’s ability achieve its recycling and net-zero emissions targets, but green job losses will also be unavoidable and investment in Europe’s circular economy will be significantly curtailed.

The European Recycling Industries’ Confederation (EuRIC) strongly rejects an EU proposal that will indirectly ban materials from tyres as part of its effort to eradicate microplastics.

Each year around 150 million tyres are processed for recycling annually – that’s one tyre for every three EU citizens. This rubber from recycled tyres has a wide range of everyday benefits that may not always be obvious – including essential materials for artificial football pitches, children’s playgrounds, and filling potholes. “Under the current proposal more than 50,000,0000 unrecycled tyres may pile up or are at risk of being exported outside the EU for incineration where environmental standards are less stringent. A one-size-fits-all approach is not the smart climate policy that we expect from the EU,” says Emmanuel Katrakis, Secretary General of EuRIC.