Nigeria is among twenty-four (24) countries that have submitted applications to continue to receive recycled materials beyond May 2027 deadline imposed by a looming European Union (EU) regulation.
According to the Brussels-based Bureau of International Recycling (BIR), the two dozen nations identified by the European Commission (EC) have initiated the process to continue to accept scrap materials shipped from the EU after that deadline.
Although steel, aluminum, copper, cardboard and other secondary commodities with established values are covered by the looming regulation, the industrial feedstock materials are classified as “nonhazardous waste” by the EU Waste Shipments Regulation as written. The regulation separates export destinations by whether the recipients are part of the higher Gross Domestic Product (GDP) Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) members or if they are non-OECD countries.
Aside Nigeria, non-OECD countries whose applications were also received, according to BIR include; Bangladesh, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Egypt, El Salvador, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Moldova, Monaco, Morocco, North-Macedonia, Pakistan, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Togo, Tunisia, Ukraine and Vietnam.
The good news for recyclers in Europe is that the list includes most of the larger volume recipients of scrap materials exported from the continent. However, notably missing from the list are the People’s Republic of China and Hong Kong. The list likely leaves off several countries with existing melt shops and paper mills and numerous others that may install such capacity in the near- or medium-term future.
A recent monthly summary of United States exported shipments of ferrous scrap prepared by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) includes both China and Hong Kong as destinations, as well as non-OECD nation Peru, which is not on the current EC list. According to the USGS, copper-bearing scrap left the U.S. in late 2024 for two non-OECD countries that have not been in contact with the EC: China and the Dominican Republic. Aluminum scrap, meanwhile, was shipped from the U.S. to three countries not on the EC list: Brazil, China and the Dominican Republic.
“BIR urges members in non-OECD countries that are not on this list and have not yet applied to engage with your national authorities immediately (also via your national association, if applicable) to submit applications as soon as possible,” states the global recycling organization. BIR also says it “can provide support in navigating these requirements.”
© www.bir.org
