China to issue scrap metal import licences and quotas as it clamps down on waste
- Environment ministry increases scrutiny of traders and processors
- Asian nations refuse overseas waste shipments and clamp down on smuggling
China aims to grant import licences and assign a first batch of import quotas by the end of June for soon-to-be restricted scrap metal shipments, a government spokesman said, earlier than anticipated by the industry.
The recycling branch of the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association said in April that the environment ministry would only formally accept import licence applications from July 1.
China will restrict imports of high-grade Category 6 copper scrap from July, as well as aluminium and steel scrap, an extension of a ban that started this year on Category 7 scrap, which has a lower metal content.
Traders and other scrap metal importers will have to show they have the capacity to process scrap into refined metal or semi-finished products such as copper cathode or rods to qualify for licences and quotas from the Ministry of Ecology and Environment.
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“The ministry has been carrying out inspections on scrap metals importers and processing companies,” spokesman Liu Youbin said on Wednesday, adding that the ministry would not accept applications from companies that had broken rules.
Since the 1980s, China has taken in hundreds of millions of tonnes of scrap metal, paper, plastic and electronic waste from overseas for recycling.
Beijing began restricting deliveries last year, while customs authorities cracked down on waste smuggling.
“China will resolutely tighten solid waste imports … The ministry is working to revise related law and regulations, and will strive to publish it as soon as possible,” Liu said.
Nations across Asia have been refusing waste cargoes from overseas. Malaysia said it would return non-recyclable plastic scrap to the developed countries that sent it.
