Global Recycling Leaders Warn Tariffs Threaten Trade; Call for
Cooperation and Incentives Over Protectionism
At
the BIR World Recycling Convention in Bangkok, industry leaders debated the
growing use of tariffs amid rising trade fragmentation. European speakers,
including Murat Bayram and Emmanuel Katrakis, argued that tariffs and export
taxes on recycled metals would hurt competitiveness, stressing that weak demand
and high energy costs—not material shortages—are Europe’s real problems. In
contrast, US representatives such as George Adams defended tariffs as vital to
safeguarding domestic steelmaking, despite higher costs for manufacturers. Data
from ReMA’s Adam Shaffer showed no basis for
restricting US exports of recycled aluminium or copper. Mark Sellier
highlighted that regionalisation trends and manufacturing shifts to Southeast
Asia predate tariffs, as markets adapt around trade barriers. The session
underscored a widening divide between advocates of free trade and those
prioritising industrial self-reliance.
The
BIR World Recycling Convention in Bangkok hosted a spirited discussion on 28
October, with industry leaders navigating the trade barriers in a fragmented
global market and emphasising the critical importance of free trade.
The
session of the International Trade Council highlighted the complexities of
protecting domestic markets versus maintaining the global flow of essential
resources.
Murat
Bayram, Managing Director, European Metals Recycling
(GBR/DEU), agreed that the steel industry in Europe needed support but not
with tariffs. “We are on the same
page at the end of the day because we also want European steel mills to come
out stronger,” Mr Bayram said in response to US supporters of tariffs. He
stressed that the solution lies in cooperation and supporting the economy, not
in protectionism.
“Another
tariff on our area would bring more bureaucracy, more barriers and more
complexity. But what do we want? We want more recycling. We need to support the
industry - but you can do it in a positive way.”
Mr
Bayram was clear that the core issue in Europe is not the availability of recycled
steel, but structural economics: “The problem is not the
recycling industry, the problem is the economy. If you
go to our valued customers, you see their order books are weak.”
As an
alternative to attacking each other with tariffs, he suggested support
mechanisms. “There could be incentives if something is processed in Europe and
smelted in Europe, something like a CO2
certificate benefit we can share with the smelter. Then you will definitely try
to sell to the smelter in Europe.” He underlined that high energy prices remain
a much bigger problem for European mills than recycled metals availability.
International
Trade Council Chairman Emmanuel Katrakis, Director of Public and
Regulatory Affairs, Galloo (FRA/BEL), rebutted calls
within Europe for taxes on the export of recycled steel, copper and aluminium.
He showed a graph of the consumption and export of European recycled steel,
indicating consumption had decreased by around 10 million tonnes in the past 10
years.
“The
more [Europe] consumes, the more recycled steel is arising
locally. Yet, with less steel production and thus less use of
recycled steel, which is the case in the EU, higher exports compensate for that
drop in consumption. The EU is one of the world's most important recycled
metals exporters, backed by an always increasing recycling production,
following the GDP growth, and an unfortunate local industry demand decline.”
Mr
Katrakis asserted: “What is equally very striking is that whenever there is a
very small increase in consumption of recycled steel in Europe, there is a
decrease in exports. There is no need for any restriction - the market sorts
itself automatically.” He also reiterated that a much bigger problem in Europe
was higher energy prices which was not an issue for mills in the US or Asia.
A
robust defence of US tariffs on steel imports was delivered by George Adams,
CEO SA Recycling (USA), stating: “I love tariffs.”
He
told attendees: “Tariffs are single-handedly saving our steel industry in the
US. If you can take our scrap and ship it all the way to China or to India and
they make steel and bring it all the way back for cheaper than we can make it
here - something's wrong.”
Whether
foreign steel makers were being subsidised or not, Mr Adams was adamant his
country had to have a vibrant, strong industry to make its own steel. If steel
was largely manufactured overseas, Mr Adams argued, the domestic industry would
be hollowed out and that was “a tremendous risk”.
“From
a very selfish point of view, being a recycler in the US, I want steel mills. I
want a lot of steel mills. So that they want to pay me more money for my
scrap.”
Mr
Katrakis noted that the US has imposed tariffs to protect
steelmakers from international competition, in particular from China, but not
on exports of recycled steel. He asked Mr Adams how US automobile companies were coping
with costly import tariffs on the steel they were buying in for their cars. “If
you now have to buy more expensive steel, the price of your product goes up,”
Mr Adams acknowledged. “But at the end of the day, we need that industry. The
steel mills I've visited have had tremendous investment. They’re
state-of-the-art, and they're running the way they're supposed to run. They can
be competitive against anybody in the world as long as it's fair.”
“Yes,
our steel is going to be more expensive and ultimately we'll probably have to
protect our car industry too. As long as things are being run efficiently and
properly, then we need to make them in our country.”
Adam
Shaffer, VP, International Trade and Global Affairs, ReMA
(USA), set out how the US recycling organisation used data to challenge
manufacturers’ calls for export restrictions on end-of-life aluminium and
copper, as well as providing insight into the dynamics of the metals’ domestic
markets.
ReMA
commissioned a study into the availability of recycled aluminium and copper in
the US markets in October 2024 and the findings were released in October 2025.
Mr Shaffer said initial analysis from the data was used in the summer to show
the Government there was no evidence to support claims that export restrictions
on recycled copper were a remedy. Later, the data was used to rebut similar
assertions from the US Aluminum Association.
“The
data backed up exactly what we had been telling the government, exactly what
we'd been telling the consumers, exactly what we'd been telling the markets,” he
said.
Mark
Sellier, Managing Director, Tangent Trading (GBR) pointed
out that the growing trend towards more regionalisation and
de-globalisation had started well before US tariffs.
“A lot
of large Chinese manufacturers across the non-ferrous industry have moved
manufacturing to Thailand and other countries,” he said. “Battery manufacturers
etc. are moving outside so they have a hedge against any compliance issues in
terms of the import of raw materials.”
“They're
not importing any less copper, it's just coming from different places as the
regulations change.”
He
said there were some “short-term complications” and drew laughs when he
reported that US exports to Canada of certain types of scrap had gone up 30%
when tariffs were introduced and, “interestingly enough”, Canadian exports to
China had gone up by a similar number.
Mr
Sellier doubted anything could counter the dominance of China. “The capacity
that's already inside China is very, very big and it supports the export
market. When these things start to develop, what China does very well, as it
has for 3,000 years, is it looks internally and fixes itself. The other
economies around China are developing and they can't survive without China’s
investment.”
He
added: “The US will be supporting their regional markets with their exports.
And then the same thing in Europe and the same thing in Asia Pacific. That's
what will develop eventually.”