EURIC Annual Conference 2018 Brussels, March 6 th 2018 THE POTENTIAL IMPACT OF CHEMICAL LEGISLATION ON THE RECYCLING OF STEEL Anna-Maria Kaczmarek Hans Regtuit
ABOUT THE EUROPEAN STEEL INDUSTRY 500 production sites 160 million tonnes of steel produced per year 166 billion turnover 320,000 direct jobs Multiplier effect: Millions of indirect jobs in value chain and related service sectors 20% drop in employment since 2007 28% drop in EU steel demand (2007-2014); gradual recovery has mostly benefitted importers EU steel faces relatively high energy prices Unfair trade practices from non-eu countries undermine EU 100% infinitely recyclable - Steel is a permanent material 50% reduction in CO 2 emissions and energy use since 1960s 500 million tonnes of CO 2 can be saved in other sectors per year by 2030 with innovative steel applications Slide 2
STEEL IS TRULY CIRCULAR THE ADVANTAGES OF STEEL Source: EUROFER Slide 3
EUROFER WORKSHOP ON CE (2016) ON OUR WAY TO EQUILIBRIUM Slide 4
UNDERSTANDING OF STEEL RECYCLING 240 Mt 98 Mt 236 Mt World data Allwood and Cullen 2010: post-consumer 42%; pre-consumer 58% Slide 5
EU GENERATED SCRAP QUALITIES (2016) Total: ~103,000,000 t Pre-Consumer Estimation based on EUROSTAT (TRADE) and EUROFER (consumption) data Post-Consumer Slide 6
SCRAP IN THE EUROPEAN STEEL INDUSTRY Scrap volume roughly > 103 million tonnes End-of-Life Recycling Input Rate (EOL-RIR) (End-of-Life Scrap content) = 24 % Recycled content (Pre + Post) = 56% EU Steel production 2016 Slide 7
RECYCLING TARGETS (INDICATIVE) RELEVANT FOR STEEL Municipal and Household waste 50% Construction and Demolition Waste 70% Packaging Waste 65% EoL Vehicles (recovery 80%) 75% WEEE (recovery 80%) 75% Waste Batteries (collection 45%) Slide 8
IRON VS CONSTITUENTS Recycling of carbon-steel is completely iron units based Recycling of Stainless Steel is much more constituents (value) based: Molybdenum > Nickel > Chromium Slide 9
RADAR DIAGRAM Slide 10
POTENTIAL RECYCLING INHIBITORS Elements staying in the melt: Copper Cu Tin Sn Tungsten W Molybdenum Mo Nickel Ni Cobalt Co Known Recycling Inhibitors Copper Cu Tin Sn and potentially Cobalt Co Slide 11
CHEMICAL LEGISLATION IN EUROPE CLP (Classification Labelling Packaging) Regulation Is Hazard based and should be RISK based REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals) Regulation Is Risk based but all actions stems from Hazard based CLP Regulation At present, EU hazard classifications apply to metals alloys and mixtures even when there is no risk. That can cause significant socioeconomic impacts and impact recycling, without environmental benefit. Slide 12
CHEMICAL LEGISLATION CLP CLASSIFICATION Existing classifications: Nickel; all mixtures to be classified as Carcinogen (Carc) 2 if containing more than 1% Ni Exemptions required for nickel Lead; Reprotoxic (Repro) 1A for concentrations 0,03 % Cobalt Classification proposal: RAC Opinion Proposal of SCL of 0.01% All routes of exposure Carc 1B, Muta, Repro Industry Self Classification GCL 0.1 % inhalation only Carc 1B only Slide 13
COBALT CLASSIFICATION PROPOSAL IMPACT ON RECYCLING > 99.5 % of stainless steel affected +/- 50% of carbon steel affected Cobalt is there because it travels with raw materials in most cases is not intentionally added Cobalt cannot be removed in an economically viable way from the melt and will accumulate Potentially this classification will jeopardise the recycling of the steel industry Slide 14
COBALT CLASSIFICATION PROPOSAL Alloys are exempted in the Annex III of the Waste Framework Directive (WFD). No legal obstruction to recycle, this should remain as such. The Circular Economy will be heavily jeopardised if industry will be forced to reduce the cobalt input through scrap. It will be a total loss for the Circular Economy if this classification proposal forces us to landfill high cobalt containing scrap. How can our industries together monitor and quantify the cobalt flows in our value chains? Will fit for purpose scrap supply include cobalt in the near future? Slide 15
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