·
Trade
Barriers: The
Bureau of International Recycling (BIR), at its World Recycling Convention in
Malaga, Spain, on 26 October 2026, warned that restrictions on recovered-metal
exports could hamper the growth of the recycling industry.
·
Importance
of Recycling:
Recycled copper accounted for approximately one-third of global copper production raw material in 2024.
Global copper demand is projected to reach 42 million tonnes by 2040, around 50% above
current levels.
·
Four
Potential Consequences of Export Restrictions:
1.
Fewer
export outlets and insufficient domestic processing capacity.
2.
Lower
domestic scrap prices, reducing recyclers’ revenues and profit margins.
3.
Weaker
collection and sorting of complex scrap due to lower profitability.
4.
Reduced
liquidity and investment in recycling capacity.
·
EU
Brass Scrap Exports:
Alloys, particularly brass, accounted for 41.7% of EU copper scrap exports in 2025.
China and India together purchased 80% of these exported alloys. Restrictions
could create a surplus of brass scrap within Europe due to inadequate
processing capacity and limited domestic demand.
·
Industry
Concerns:
European recyclers warned that existing facilities would be unable to process
all recovered brass if exports were restricted, potentially resulting in large
stockpiles and additional investment requirements.
·
Investment
in Processing:
Industry representatives stressed the need to invest in sorting, cleaning,
separation, refining and processing technologies to convert lower-quality scrap
into usable raw materials.
·
European
Copper Industry:
Spanish manufacturer La Farga produced 200,000 tonnes
of copper in 2025, of which 60%
came from recycled copper. More than 70% of its recycled copper
feedstock this year was sourced within Europe.
·
Call
for Policy Support:
Speakers urged policymakers to strengthen industrial competitiveness by
addressing high energy costs and regulatory burdens, while promoting
investment, innovation and collaboration across the recycling value chain.
·
Conclusion: BIR emphasised that free and workable trade rules, adequate
domestic processing capacity and investment incentives are
essential to meet rising copper demand and ensure the long-term viability of
the recycling industry.
[ABS
News Service/27.10.2026]
Non-Ferrous Metals Division- “Trade barriers
are a barrier to recycling”
BIR World Recycling Convention
& Exhibition, Malaga (25) 26-27 October 2026
The
growing trend for restrictions on the export of recovered metals is likely to
hamper the expansion of the recycling industry, the Bureau of International
Recycling’s World Recycling Convention has been told.
The
current challenge to global free trade was explored during the Non-Ferrous
Metals Division session in Malaga, Spain on 26 October. Professor Dr Frank
Pothen of the University of Applied Sciences in Jena, Germany, spoke about a
recent report he had published on the effects of trade barriers on recovered
copper for the Circular Metal Association in Germany.
The
message from Professor Pothen and research colleagues at the Fraunhofer
Institute was that recycling is a fundamental part of the copper value chain.
About a third of the raw material used in global copper production in 2024 came
from recycled copper. And recycling stood to benefit from the anticipated
growth in demand for copper: by 2040 world demand is expected to reach 42
million tonnes, 50% up on today’s level.
“The
point of our work was to look at trade barriers and think about both the
effects that we might expect once barriers are implemented, but also the
side-effects, the sort of things that typically might get left out in the
discussion of these issues,” he said.
Professor
Pothen set out four possible consequences:
·
Fewer
export outlets – can domestic capacity take up the slack?
·
Lower
domestic scrap prices – while processors could gain cheaper input, recyclers
face lower revenues and margins
·
Weaker
collection and sorting – costly recovery of complex scrap becomes less
attractive
·
Reduced
liquidity – less money for investment in recycling capacity
Support for the producers
The
professor argued that if export restrictions on recovered metal were
introduced, attention had to turn to the competitiveness of European industries
using copper, aluminium or steel. Energy costs, regulatory burdens and other
practices that hamper competitiveness would have to be addressed, he said.
“What
we hope for the future is that we will think about regulatory systems and
incentives that improve the conditions for recycling, that get incentives to
invest in more sorting and refining and processing capacities, combining
environmental issues with workable trade rules.”
Another
issue for Professor Pothen was that secondary copper is not a homogeneous
material stream. Pre-consumer recovered copper is typically suitable for direct
melting and has low processing costs. Complex secondary raw materials, on the
other hand, must be collected, separated and often refined – all of which
impact margins. Alloys, notably brass, which accounted for 41.7% of all copper
scrap exports from the EU in 2025, have strong downstream demand in China and
India which bought in 80% of the exported alloy.
“Are
there actually other companies that can use the scrap metals to make something
out of it?” he asked. “If not, you will just have a surplus of the material. If
you want more scrap metal being used within Europe, you must generate the
incentives for investment in capacity.”
The
challenge of brass was raised by another speaker, Joan Campmajó, chief
executive officer of ACIN (ESP), a family-owned metal recycler founded in
Girona in 2014, who stressed the importance of processing lower-value metals.
“I encourage all the people of this Convention to invest, to convert this waste
into raw material because I think that it's going to be the next steps we have
to make in this industry.”
Mr Campmajó added it was easy to sell “clean” material into
the European market but trading lower quality grades was a problem. “What we
are mainly focused on is to invest, to clean these materials, to be ready to
sell in the European Union. It is the reason we are making all our
investments.”
Viable value chain
Fellow
speaker Georgeta Postas, raw materials purchasing director for La Farga (ESP), works only a short drive from Mr Campmajó where her company manufactures semi-finished
copper products. In 2025, 60% of the company’s copper production of 200,000
tonnes came from recycled copper. This year, more than 70% was collected from
within Europe. The company’s goal was to increase that figure but it depended
on both the availability of material and the reliability of the value chain.
“The
Europe Urban Mine is a strategic resource that needs a viable value chain.
Ensuring access to raw material must definitely go hand in hand with
maintaining industrial capabilities that can transform these materials into
usable ones.”
Non-Ferrous
Metals Division Board member Natallia Zholud (TRM
Metals, POL) pointed out that much of the recent increase in recycling capacity
in Europe was for processing copper wire rods. She asked Mr Campmajó
what would happen to the market if recovered brass could no longer be exported.
“First
of all, we don't have enough time to get ready to process it [all]. We have
bought a couple of machines to segregate zinc from copper because when you have
the copper segregated, then it's easy to sell in the European market.
“We
are going to have a huge problem. We are going to have mountains of brass in
our yards.”
He
said it was already difficult to sell brass and there were few takers for it
inside the EU.
In
response to a question from the floor about export controls, Ms Postas said it
was more important to meet the predicted growing demand for copper rather than
getting nervous about the supply.
“What
we need to do is meet this demand via partnerships, collaboration, innovation
and strengthening the industrial competitiveness of Europe.”
The
need for a collective approach was echoed by Murat Bayram, European Metal
Recycling (DEU), and recipient of the Non-Ferrous Legend Award from BIR at the
previous Gothenburg Convention. Speaking from the floor, he maintained: “We
need to understand we are sitting in the same boat, the recyclers, the
smelters, the collectors, the traders, the brokers. We need to avoid any more
regulation because we are building a labyrinth from regulation to regulation
and [then] wonder why the investments are not going through. Let's remind us
again and again, we are one community.”
Exciting industry
At
the beginning of the session, Divisional President Paul Coyte (Hayes Metals,
NZL) celebrated the dynamic and changing nature of the non-ferrous recycling
industry. Even so, he said, there were many constants for BIR members,
regardless of which part of the supply chain or world they were in.
“For
example, energy costs, whether that be fuel, electricity, or gas. Or regulatory
issues. And then there's issues that are a bit more specific: security of
supply, security of demand.”
But
Mr Coyte believed the most important fact was that the recycling industry is
intertwined. “We all listen to each other; we want to improve it. That's
because there's a common goal, which is recycling. And that's quite exciting.”