Today, 1 June, the European Parliament will vote on the report on the Due Diligence Act. On this occasion, German industry associations are calling for exemptions for recycled raw materials and more coherence between the existing European regulations.
In a joint press release from BDE Federal Association of the German Waste Management, Water and Recycling Industry, bvse Bundesverband Sekundärrohstoffe und Entsorgung e.V., BDSV Bundesvereinigung Deutscher Stahlrecycling- und Entsorgungsunternehmen e. V. and VDM Verband Deutscher Metallhändler und Recycler e. V., the associations regret that there are no exemptions for recycled raw materials.
Materials such as recycled metals, steel, paper or glass are collected in small quantities directly at the place of origin and then processed in larger facilities to ensure quality and returned to the cycle. If the due diligence obligations are to extend back to the original raw material, this is not feasible for the recycler, because the recycling process takes place in various stages as part of a quality-assured cycle in which, for example It is impossible to prove which European resident has put which waste where into the cycle.
The recycling associations are therefore calling for this, To exclude recycled raw materials from European supply chain law in line with the EU Conflict Minerals Regulation and emphasise that it is of great importance that the special features of the recycling industry are adequately taken into account when implementing the Due Diligence Act. This would avoid unnecessary bureaucratic hurdles and keep raw materials in the cycle.
Furthermore, the associations are of the opinion that additional burdens on companies due to double reporting obligations to the Commission must be avoided at all costs. This proposal is in the context of a large number of other European regulations such as the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, the Taxonomy Regulation, the Conflict Minerals Regulation and the Waste Shipment Regulation. The latter in particular ensures proper trade in recycled raw materials as part of environmental impact assessments, meaning that further reporting obligations are not necessary.
Source: BDE
