National Waste and Recycling Industry Council (NWRIC) members will play a vital role in reaching 2030 carbon emissions targets. Chief executive officer Rick Ralph explains.
As the Federal Government finalises the last of its recyclable material export specifications, our focus turns to understanding how the Albanese government’s election commitments will align with the major reforms our industry has been working towards since the 2019 National Waste Action Plan was published.
It is fortunate in terms of policy reform, that the newly elected government’s policy agenda aligns well with previous arrangements, and its published election commitments provide confidence that the action plan objectives remain ontrack.(www.alp.org.au/policies/waste-and-recycling-plan).
Cognisant that the overarching waste policy principles are aligned with the government’s legislated emissions reduction target of 43 per cent by 2030, Rick Ralph, Chief Executive Officer of the National Waste Recycling Industry Council, (NWRIC) says his members will play a vital role in realising a circular economy and contribute significantly to achieving and, exceeding carbon emissions reduction targets.
Following the successful introduction of quality regulations for the export of glass, plastics and tyres, and paper and cardboard (from July 2024), NWRIC, in partnership with the Australian Steel Industry (ASI), commissioned Australian Economic Advocacy Solutions (AEAS) to analyse the environmental and economic benefits of implementing a national ban on the export of unprocessed ferrous scrap metal that fails to meet international quality standards.
NWRIC and ASI have been advocating for a national ban on the export of unprocessed ferrous scrap metal. The call for change is based on the premise that the retention of Australian ferrous scrap metal for processing locally is an important environmental and economic opportunity for Australia – providing enhanced and beneficial environmental (and carbon) outcomes; securing Australia’s long-term recycling infrastructure and sovereign steelmaking capacity; and creating direct and indirect economic and employment opportunities.
Recycled scrap inputs into steel manufacturing are critical in our domestic steel industry’s strategy to reduce emissions intensity and support circularity for a decarbonised steel industry. AEAS found that the use of processed Australian ferrous scrap metal increases the recyclable material, enabling Australian steel producers to reduce their GHG emissions.
Australian steel manufacturing is among the least emissions intensive in the world. Building on this position, the Australian steel industry has well stated goals to further decarbonise the industry through the production of ‘low carbon steel,’ but is reliant on the ongoing supply of high-quality scrap feedstock.
Introducing regulation to ensure ferrous scrap metal meets internationally recognised quality standards prior to export is required to meet the nation’s decarbonisation aspirations. Such an approach will also provide domestic feedstock and Australian steel mills will not be required to import processed scrap metal to replace exported feedstock. In FY21, Australia imported nearly 100,000 tonnes of processed scrap metal.
The estimated 1,070,575 tonnes of unprocessed ferrous scrap metal exported annually contains waste that is predominately made up of glass, plastics, and tyres – all of which attract export bans singularly.
This unprocessed scrap metal emanates from predominantly post-consumer materials, white goods, and end-of-life car bodies. These materials may also contain lead acid, NiCad and lithium-ion batteries, as well as residual quantities of oil, fuel and coolants.
Unfortunately, much of the waste materials that are attached are being exported to developing countries, many of which fail to have appropriate environmental compliance standards and oversight to accept and dispose of these waste materials.
Based on AEAS modelling, the transport CO2 emissions saving from a ban of this nature would be 81,110 tonnes. Furthermore, recycling 802,975 tonnes of ferrous scrap metal would save an additional 1.2 million tonnes in emissions as compared to the use of virgin raw materials.
Processing shredded ferrous scrap metal locally increases the security of scrap supply to local steel mills and the Australian steel value chain and helps secure the future of Australia’s scrap metal recycling and steel manufacturing sectors. It directly addresses tangible sovereign risk to Australia at a time when local manufacturing capability has been highlighted as being essential.
Processing the valuable scrap metal in Australia also provides a higher value add and employment contribution to the economy than the export of unprocessed ferrous scrap metal. For every 10,000 tonnes of ferrous scrap metal, the scrap metal processors create $4,840,358 in value add and 37.2 jobs. By contrast unprocessed ferrous scrap metal exporting business only creates $1,344,544 in value and 10.3 jobs.
NWRIC and the AIS are calling on the Australian Government to include unprocessed ferrous scrap metal in the Australian Waste Export Ban.
The explanatory memorandum that accompanies the Commonwealth’s Recycling & Waste Reduction Bill (2020) sets out that ‘the intention of regulating the export of waste material is to stop the export of untreated and unprocessed waste [that] is likely to have a negative impact on the environment or human health in the receiving country.’
The Commonwealth’s Recycling and Waste Reduction Act 2020 has in place export bans for unprocessed tyres, glass and plastic – these materials make up the bulk of contaminants that are attached to unprocessed scrap metal. The inclusion of unprocessed ferrous scrap metal to the list of banned waste exports will close this loophole that is detrimental to Australia’s national interests.
The Act allows the Environment Minister to make rules to prescribe categories of waste material for the purposes of the Bill, allowing the minister flexibility to periodically regulate different waste materials as appropriate.
By using existing legislation that is designed to support the delivery of a circular economy industry, we can also deliver more than 1.28 CO2e global emissions towards the 2030 target.
For more information, visit: www.nwric.com.au
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