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Metals Recycling Industry

I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Southampton, Test (Dr. Whitehead) on obtaining this debate and on the way in which he presented his case. I also congratulate other hon. Members on their contributions. As they have said, this has been an extremely useful debate that has left me with many points to which I must reply. I share my hon. Friend's view that the benefits of metal recycling are considerable. Such materials can be used time and again, and in doing so we use our natural resources wisely and avoid using the energy involved in extracting raw materials. The industry is vital to our achieving our EU targets on packaging, on end-of-life vehicles, on batteries and on electrical and electronic equipment. The industry is a significant export earner, and about 60 per cent. of the metals it handles are exported. The hon. Member for Brecon and Radnorshire (Mr. Williams) made a case for more recycling at home and less export. May I say to him that a balance needs to be struck on that issue? It is not necessarily absolutely right to recycle everything at home, and if emerging economies can reuse our material, they do not then use raw materials and huge amounts of energy. A balance needs to be struck, and it is useful for the most developed countries to make materials they have used available to those who wish to recycle to benefit their emerging economies. My hon. Friend and others by implication have paid tribute to the British Metals Recycling Association, and I recognised some of its memorandum when it was quoted by hon. Members today. Metal recycling makes an important contribution to the economy and I add my tributes to the work being done. As hon. Members have said, 2 million cars, 5 billion food and drink cans, 3.5 million white goods and some 8 million automotive batteries have been recycled. Therefore, an extraordinary amount of metal recycling is taking place. Aluminium is a case in point. The hon. Member for Vale of York (Miss McIntosh) referred to something that I have said before on the subject—indeed, the topic of aluminium is an extraordinary story. If recycled, aluminium takes just 5 per cent. of the energy that would be needed to produce primary aluminium. As the hon. Lady said, that is equivalent to saving 11 tonnes of carbon dioxide for every tonne of aluminium produced. Recycling aluminium also reduces the use of chemicals, eliminates the need for 5 tonnes of bauxite ore to be mined and prevents the generation of nearly 2 tonnes of red mud as a by-product. The benefits of recycling are substantial and global recovery is impressive. It is said that 70 per cent. of all aluminium ever produced is still in use today, but there are challenges. For example, it is difficult to capture—we are failing to do so at the moment—most of the aluminium used in drink cans in this country because they are consumed and disposed of away from home. I am determined to do better on dealing with such metal packaging, and I have asked officials to meet stakeholders tomorrow to explore ways in which we can increase the amount of aluminium recovered and recycled from that source. Led by my hon. Friend the Member for Southampton, Test, hon. Members raised a number of issues relating to how environmental regulation affects the metals recycling industry. He referred to the European Court judgment by which we are all bound. Possibly the most significant issue relates to the question of when waste stops being waste. The revised waste framework directive, to which a number of hon. Members referred, addresses that question. The common position agreed by the Council proposes the development of end-of-waste specifications and criteria. That position identifies scrap metal as one of the categories of waste for which such criteria should be developed. My hon. Friend felt that we were not active in the field of protocols, but we have led the way in developing end-of-life criteria and we have been working with the BMRA on that. The aim of the proposal is to facilitate the use of waste that has undergone recovery, while continuing to maintain high levels of environmental protection. The common position provides that waste that ceases to be waste under that procedure would also stop being waste for the purpose of the recovery and recycling targets in other EU waste legislation. Of course, that would make it easier for the industry to demonstrate that its targets were being met. The hon. Member for Banbury (Tony Baldry) mentioned waste shipments regulations. Of course, while metals remain as waste, they are bound to fall under those regulations, but the UK has taken steps to try to ensure that there is positive entry to the non-OECD countries where that is an issue. Despite initial problems, those markets are pretty much secured in China and India. None the less, these issues must be explored and we are continuing to work as hard as we can on that. The hon. Member for Vale of York asked which member states supported us. I am afraid that I am not in a position to respond to that today. If I can obtain more information about that, I will happily write to her. As she will know from her long experience in the European Parliament, these matters are complicated: deals have to be done and it is not always obvious until the last moment how much support can be organised. I reassure all hon. Members and the industry itself of our commitment to this issue. We recognise the importance of metals and that those used for proper recycling purposes are an incredibly valuable resource. Obviously, we want to ensure that that is enshrined in law.