Circular Economy – Waste Proposals5 ways to make them work for indispensable metals

Europe already leads the world in base metals recycling…

And high potential for recovering precious & critical metals from e-waste and other

applications

…but too many metals still escape the loop

of base metals are exported annually, without guarantee of quality treatment

of EU e-waste is not properly recycled

• 33% recycled under non-compliant conditions

• 15% exported without guarantee of proper treatment

• 17% discarded or scavenged

65%

Measure real recycling rates

Promote high-quality treatment

Ensure exported waste is recycled under equivalent conditions

Establish ambitious and effective targets

Harmonise definitions for by-products and classification of waste

The solution? Prioritise material recovery

Five key measures to strengthen the Commission waste proposals

1. Measure real recycling rates

Our Call:

A harmonised calculation point will incentivize material recovery:

Measure recycling rates at input to the ‘final recycling process’OUR CALL

2. Promote high-quality metals treatment

Promote the high-quality treatment of metals - especially for complex waste streams such as e-waste and portable batteries.

OUR CALL

High-qualitytreatment

Low-quality treatment

Maximum number of metals & high yields

High environmental standards

Safe treatment & recycling of hazardous substances

Small number of metals & low yields

Lack of environmental standards

Improper treatment of hazardous substances

Annual EU waste exports, without guarantee of

high-quality treatment:

3. Make sure exported waste is recycled under equivalent conditions

1 million tonnes

1 million tonnes

>70 000 tonnes

1.3 million tonnes

Require that waste exports are recycled under “equivalent conditions”to count towards recycling targets. Define this through a Delegated Act.

OUR CALL

Sources: European Aluminium, Eurostat, CWIT, EEA

4. Establish ambitious and effective targets

Maintain ambitious EU targets to minimise landfill, and to boost real recycling of municipal, construction & packaging waste.

OUR CALL

In some countries, landfill rates are still as high as 97%

Landfill & Incineration

Recycling

Source: Eurostat

5. Harmonise definitions for byproducts and classification of waste

Waste codes & classifications are not harmonised across Member States, creating trade barriers:

“Anode slimes” (containing precious metals)

EU-level EURAL codes exist, but some Member States use national codes

Set-up a “harmonization committee”, to work towards better EU-level harmonization of waste

OUR CALL

Byproducts Hazardous waste

“Electronic Scrap” Non-hazardous Hazardous

Reminder:

Key measures to strengthen waste proposals

Measure real recycling rates

Promote high-quality treatment

Make sure exported waste is recycled under equivalent conditions

Establish ambitious and effective targets

Harmonise definitions for by-products and classification of waste

See our position paper for further recommendations