Europe Industry Support EU Restrictions on Metal Scrap Export to India

· Stricter regulation: Martijn van de Poll, CEO of Dutch recycler Myne Circular Metals, supports stronger EU controls on scrap exports to encourage domestic recycling investment.

· Investment and jobs: Stronger waste shipment rules could promote advanced recycling technology, create skilled jobs and strengthen Europe’s industrial competitiveness.

· ‘False choice’: Van de Poll argues that tighter export controls and continued access to international markets for recovered metals can coexist.

· EU regulation: The revised Waste Shipment Regulation (WSR), which entered into force in 2024, has provisions scheduled to take effect in May 2027. The European Commission is considering broader controls on exports of certain recycled and non-hazardous metal scrap streams.

· International markets remain necessary: European recycling output and demand may not always match in quality and quantity. International markets will remain important when Europe has a surplus of recovered metals.

· Advanced technology: Myne has invested millions of euros in artificial intelligence, sensors, robotics and advanced separation technologies to recover high-quality aluminium and copper alloys.

· Industry disagreement: Van de Poll says recycling trade associations do not necessarily represent every business model or interest within the European recycling industry.

· Strategic project recognition: The European Commission has selected Myne as a strategic project under the Critical Raw Materials Act, potentially improving access to financing, faster permitting and support for expanding recycling capacity.

[ABS News Service/15.10.2026]

Martijn van de Poll, CEO of Myne Circular Metals in the Netherlands, has accused opponents of stricter regulation of EU scrap exports as presenting ‘a false choice’. He argues that stricter controls on waste shipments are essential to boost European recycling investment while preserving international markets for recovered metals.

‘There is too much doom and gloom in the debate about Europe’s Waste Shipment Regulation (WSR),’ says Van de Poll on LinkedIn, reacting to warnings from Recycling Europe among other industry organisations that stricter regulation will block access to international markets when the revised regulation’s provisions take effect in May 2027.

Investment boost

According to the metal recycler, Europe needs a strong WSR. ‘Europe should take responsibility for its own waste, including the difficult-to-recycle fractions,’ he says. ‘We should not simply export our waste and its environmental impact elsewhere.’

Van de Poll points out that, across Europe, many companies like Myne are investing heavily in advanced sorting and recycling technology.

‘A strong WSR will stimulate these investments, create skilled jobs, keep valuable raw materials in Europe and strengthen our industrial competitiveness. We should encourage investment in European recycling and innovation, and consequently not make it easier to export less-processed waste.’

‘False choice’

Van de Poll believes that the debate presents a false choice between stricter controls on waste exports and continued access to global markets for recycled metals. ‘My message to EU Commissioner Stéphane Séjourné is simple: Do not lose that ambition now.’

The dispute comes as the EU consults on the next phase of its revised WSR which entered into force in 2024. The Commission has shifted from aluminium-specific measures to propose wider controls on the export of various recycled and non-hazardous metal scrap streams. The rules form part of efforts to take greater responsibility for domestic scrap, increase recycling and strengthen the supply of valuable raw materials.

Quality and quantity

The Myne ceo notes that the EU can tighten controls on waste exports without closing international markets to recovered metals, pointing to the existing End-of-Waste framework.

European supply and demand will never match perfectly in terms of quality and quantity, he argues, but international outlets remain necessary when the EU produces a surplus of recovered metals.

Smart tech

Myne has invested millions of euros in artificial intelligence, sensors, robotics and advanced separation technologies to recover high-quality aluminium and copper alloys from complex waste streams. According to Van de Poll, these investments could be undermined.

‘Without a strict WSR, companies like Myne compete with the easier alternative: exporting lower-value waste before that recycling value has been created in Europe,’ he says.

The metal recycler says that this risks ‘rewarding trading over innovation and putting technology-driven recyclers at a disadvantage’.

‘Stricter export rules, by contrast, could help create a stronger European market for secondary raw materials, supporting industrial jobs, reducing raw-material vulnerabilities and encouraging investment in advanced recycling capacity.’

Different models

Van de Poll adds that the position of trade bodies should not automatically be taken as representative of the entire industry. ‘When Recycling Europe speaks for “the European recycling industry” it is important to recognise that the sector includes different business models and interests,’ he says.

EU recognition

The criticism comes in the week the metal recycling company has been selected by the European Commission as a strategic project under the Critical Raw Materials Act. ‘This recognition is great because it can help us accelerate our ambitions through improved access to financing, streamlined permitting procedures and support for further scaling up our recycling capacity.’