Draft Revisions Fail to Support Circular Economy Goals
(Washington, DC) - The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI) today released the following statement in reaction to the November 17 announcement of draft revisions to the European Union (EU) Waste Shipment Regulations:
ISRI applauds the European Commission’s emphasis on the protection of environmental and human health in the trade of end-of-life materials, and supports the needed enhancements outlined in the proposed revised regulation to combat illegal trade in true waste. Effective implementation, compliance, and enforcement is a shared responsibility, and we believe that setting clearer criteria for EU Members States to increase oversight will go a long way to addressing the harmful practice of illegally shipping waste to third countries.
We are also relieved that the proposed Regulation will not be imposing trade restrictions on recycled commodities between the United States and Europe. However, the Regulation fails to provide adequate, clear, and concise definitions and distinctions between valueless discarded waste and specification-grade recyclable commodities that are in high demand by global manufacturers with global supply chains. Imposing burdensome procedures on exporters to judge another country’s policies and recycling infrastructure or worse, banning trade of recyclable commodities – especially when no such comparable regulations are being imposed on carbon-intensive, primary raw materials extracted from the earth – will lead only to greater stress on the environment from mining and manufacturers being challenged to meet sustainability goals. The Regulation will thus create competitive disadvantages for recycling in many parts of the world, including in Europe, potentially leading to less recycling and falling short of sustainable development goals, the circular economy, and the Green New Deal.
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The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, Inc. (ISRI) is the "Voice of the Recycling Industry™." ISRI represents 1,300 companies in the U.S. and more than 40 countries that process, broker, and consume scrap commodities, including metals, paper, plastics, glass, rubber, electronics, and textiles. With headquarters in Washington, DC, the Institute provides education, advocacy, safety and compliance training, and promotes public awareness of the vital role recycling plays in the U.S. economy, global trade, the environment and sustainable development. Generating nearly $116 billion annually in U.S. economic activity, the scrap recycling industry provides more than 506,000 Americans with good jobs.