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Metals Recycling Industry

The hon. Gentleman makes a good point, which I shall probably come to a little later. However much we reduce and make more efficient our manufacturing processes, and however much we reuse, there will always be some material to be recycled. The British scrap metal industry has proved to be a leader in the European Union and the world in dealing with waste. It is not surprising that metal has a prominent part in recycling, as it has always been a valuable commodity. Some recycling streams have not been quite as profitable in the past, mainly because the natural resources from which the commodities are derived have been cheap. It has cost less to produce commodities from virgin materials than to recycle materials that have already been produced. But metals have always been a valuable commodity, and therefore there has always been a trade in recycling them. It has been said that metal recycling probably contributes about £6 billion to our national economy, and that 60 per cent. of the metal is exported. However, the global price of scrap metal has risen and is expected to rise further. Lead is now thought to be worth between £700 and £1,000 a tonne, compared with £400 a tonne previously. The price of copper has risen by about 500 per cent. since 2001 and is now between £2,500 and £3,000 a tonne, compared with about £1,000 a tonne a few years ago. Of course, there is more to consider than just the value of the metal itself. The cost of extracting and quarrying the ore and then refining the metal must also be considered. Part of that cost is the use of energy. For instance, the cost of producing 1 tonne of aluminium is about 10 tonnes of carbon dioxide. We can see that not only is the cost per tonne of producing aluminium affected but carbon emissions and, possibly, global warming are also affected. Of the 15 million tonnes of metal that are recycled in Britain, just over 8 million come from cars, fridges and other such equipment. The new EU regulations have boosted the industry and now 3 million cars are recycled each year. The target is that 85 per cent. must be recycled. The hon. Member for Southampton, Test touched on the problem of dealing with materials in cars other than metals—rubber, fabric, glass and possibly wood—and whether an incentive could be given to use some of them for co-firing in combined heat and power processes. British cars are more likely to be recycled because they are right-hand drive and, therefore, not easily exported to eastern European countries. On the continent, many cars are sent east for a time of retirement in other countries as they come towards the end of their life. There is some concern that the certificate of destruction required by the end-of-life vehicles regulations is sometimes circumvented so that some cars are not properly recycled but are sidelined, so to speak, and that only the most readily available materials are recycled while the other materials are dumped or sent to landfill. Mention has been made in the European Parliament of regulations under the revised waste framework directive, which proposes a mechanism to reclassify non-waste recycled materials. It would significantly drive down the industry's regulatory burden. There has been a discussion about comitology, or co-decision making. We desperately need to take that forward quickly if the industry is to get the benefit of being able to deal with such material in the most efficient and effective way. Quite clearly, a lot of the offcuts are definitely not waste: they are almost virgin material and should not be described as waste. Much of the waste material has been treated within the recycling industry in this country to make it perfectly safe to transport. There are regulations to prevent the illegal dumping of waste in third countries and to protect those countries from being exploited. We understand the need for regulation, but there must be an ability to discriminate between waste and an important raw material. Hon. Members have mentioned that, because of the increased value of waste metal, theft has developed, too. The Government have addressed some aspects of that issue. A productive surgery in a little village called Cwmdu in my constituency was slightly enlivened when the message came through that there had been a theft in the village and somebody had run off with some scrap metal that was being turned into a sculpture by a local artist. The village rallied round and we apprehended the person who had attempted to steal material. So it was a productive surgery in the end. But people out there are looking to take advantage of the fact that the price of scrap metal has increased. As I look around the countryside—I have a very rural constituency—I notice a great improvement in its appearance, because a lot of the machines that used to be left where they had died are now being brought back into the recycling stream. Genuine people out there are looking for such opportunities and they are to be encouraged. However, there is an illegal aspect to this and although regulation is needed to ensure that theft and other illegal activities are not encouraged, it must be risk-based regulation bearing down on the people who are paying less attention to its legal niceties. People running proper, legitimate businesses should not be subject to legislation that inhibits their efficiency and effectiveness. This has been a good debate. It has drawn out a number of issues. This is a most effective industry, both in terms of the economy and the environment, but the Government could do a number of things to ensure that it can operate more effectively. The recycling of certain materials does not operate to the same extent in this country as it does in others. Norway recycles 93 per cent. of its aluminium and Switzerland and Finland recycle 88 per cent., while in the United Kingdom the figure is just 48 per cent. What can the Government do to encourage increased recycling, particularly of non-ferrous metals that are valuable in terms of commodity prices but take a huge amount of energy to produce from the virgin state? What are they doing to ensure that the criminal justice system bears down on metal thefts? What are they doing to ensure that travellers on railway lines are not put at risk and churches and other community buildings do not suffer when their roofs are stripped of lead, leading to costs for the insurance industry and, always, costs to the community? Is there any way in which the UK can bring its recycling levels up to some of those in the European Union? Will the Minister strengthen the end-of-life vehicles directive and the certificate of destruction to ensure that the loopholes are closed and that as many of our vehicles as possible are recycled? This is a successful industry, but I feel that the Government can and should do more to encourage it, lighten the regulation where they can and bear down on those who want to make a cheap buck and do not go through the proper processes.