German Steel Federation Wirtschaftsvereinigung Stahl (WV Stahl) has revealed worries about the shortage of scrap metal. Lack of scrap will hinder the aim of a carbon-free industry. In 2020, German industries decided a transition to modern technologies to reduce carbon emissions which caused to increase in the consumption of scrap metal. Importing ferrous scrap has increased by 1/3, up to 5 million tons, against 2021.
Globally the use of scrap has increased; in the Netherlands, scrap consumption had increased significantly by 86% from 515,000 tons in 2020 to 956,000 tons in 2021. A decline had been observed in Norway, from 289,000 tons in 2020 to 208,000 tons in 2021.
Germany’s scrap export reached 8.7 million tons in 2021 against 8.6 million tons in 2020. Metal scrap is pivotal in reducing carbon emissions. The outflow of metal raises worries in Germany and European Union; 14 million tons were exported in 2021 compared to 6.8 million tons in 2016.
The transition to environment-friendly technologies is for the ambition of hydrogen-based Direct Reduced Iron (DRI) in Germany and the other EU countries. Approval of the revision of the Regulation on Waste Transportation (WSR) is a big step toward controlling the outflow of scrap metal and protecting the environment. Now, only those non-OECD countries can get imports from the EU that have environmental standards matching to European Union. Strict measures are required to control the exports of scrap metal.
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