Steel firms seek relaxation of proposed car recycling rules

Date: 03/09/1998

By Chris Johnstone

SPECIALIST European steel producers are calling for environmental rules on recycling vehicles to be relaxed.

Producers of leaded steel, which is more malleable than the ordinary metal and is mostly used for the production of screws and other small parts, say a Commission proposal which would require all lead to be separated and removed during the recycling of vehicles would impose impossible demands on the scrap industry.

At the moment, leaded steel is included with all other steel in the scrapping and sorting process.

Europe's steel lobby, Eurofer, is preparing a strategy to counter what it sees as a threat to some of the industry's biggest companies.

Verena Schultz, of the German Steel Association, said options included proposing a limit on the lead content of leaded steel or asking for an exemption for leaded steel products altogether.

"Although there has been a lot of research to find alternatives to leaded steel, none has been found so far," she said. "Leaded steel can be shaped easily and is used where a high level of precision is required."

Big producers of leaded steel include British Steel, the multinational steel company ISPAT which has units in Ireland and Germany, and Germany's Saarstahl.

European governments and the European Parliament are expected to begin scrutinising the proposed directive on end-of-life vehicles in the autumn. Steel producers claim they have already received a sympathetic hearing for their complaints from MEPs, who have a say in shaping the measures.

The Commission proposal aims to increase the proportion of a vehicle which is recycled or reused from the current average of around 75% to 85% of the total content in 2005 and 95% by 2015.

While the industry is fighting for a relaxation of the proposed rules, environmental campaigners fear that the Germans might use their EU presidency in the first half of next year to attempt to dilute the proposed directive by calling for its demands to be met by voluntary agreement with the scrap industry.

"They are pushing for the model of their voluntary agreement to be adopted at a European level. Such agreements may work when only a few companies are involved, but become impossible when there are thousands," said a spokesman for the European Environmental Bureau (EEB), which represents many 'green' groups.

The EEB is also concerned that European rules will lead to more old cars being exported out of the EU, mostly to central and eastern Europe, where they will add to the pool of polluting vehicles.

Meanwhile, steelmakers are also calling on the Commission to make changes to a separate measure aimed at cutting electronic waste from producers and users. This is expected to include a call for a ban on a number of specialist metals. The leaded steel case is seen as setting a precedent for this battle.