Three German associations have sent a joint letter to European regulators in protest against possible restrictions on steel and scrap metal exports, Kallanish reports.
The German Association of Steel Processing and Waste Management Companies (BSV), the Association of German Metal Dealers and Processors of Secondary Raw Materials (VDM) and the Federal Association for the Management of Secondary Raw Materials and Waste (bvse) presented a detailed legal opinion on economic and competition legislation. The award winner is Teresa Ribera, Executive Vice President of the European Commission and Commissioner for Competition
In their correspondence, the associations regard the export restrictions discussed in Brussels as a large-scale interference in the functioning of recycling markets, which carries significant risks for climate protection, the closed-loop economy and investment.
The criticism focuses, among other things, on the new rules for the transportation of waste, the Law on Essential Raw Materials and the European Action Plan on Steel and Metals. From the point of view of the associations, these initiatives amount to political restrictions or effective prevention of scrap exports to third countries.
"Here they pretend that the structural and cost problems in the steel industry can be solved by limiting the sales markets for the processing industry, although there is no shortage of scrap metal at all. It's just an attempt to lower market prices," says Guido Lipinski, Managing Director of BSV. "Anyone who over-regulates the functioning of scrap metal markets not only endangers thousands of medium-sized enterprises, but also risks destroying a functioning closed-loop economy. This would do much more harm than good to the European steel industry."
The steel and metal recycling sector in Germany and Europe is a key industry for decarbonizing production: in the EU, about 59% of steel production is already made from recycled scrap
"Of all the companies, those that have adhered to the principles of a closed-loop economy for decades now have to pay the price for short-sighted industrial policies," says Eric Rebock, managing Director of bvse. "Instead of expanding its processing capacity, Brussels is signaling that investments in modern processing and sorting technologies pose a risk, as markets can be closed politically at any moment. This contradicts a secure future of transformation."
Associations warn against abusing export restrictions as a seemingly simple
