The EU Commission's new internal market strategy recognises the importance of the free movement of goods, including for recycling and secondary raw materials. The European recycling industry welcomes this direction - but is calling for concrete measures to reduce bureaucracy and strengthen the circular economy.
The recycling industry sees the internal market strategy presented by the EU Commission as an important step towards a functioning European market for secondary raw materials. As part of the so-called „omnibus package“ for the environment and the internal market, bureaucratic hurdles for the cross-border transport of waste are to be significantly reduced in future. In the view of the recycling associations, this is long overdue.
In a joint position paper, the signatory organisations emphasise: „The circular economy can only work if raw materials are recycled where they can be used most efficiently - regardless of national borders.“ In practice, the internal market for recycling materials is often hampered by lengthy authorisation procedures and inconsistent regulations.
Four specific demands from the industry
The associations are proposing four key measures to implement the announced course in practice:
1. waiver of Annex 7 for non-hazardous waste
Instead of digitising the previous procedure, the so-called Annex 7 is to be dispensed with altogether - a simple delivery note should be sufficient for materials such as steel and metal scrap. The comment: digitisation would not solve the bureaucracy problem, but only postpone it.
2. faster and standardised notification procedures
For established recycling streams, the associations are calling for collective notifications with a term of five years and a presumption of authorisation if deadlines are exceeded - in order to increase predictability and efficiency in cross-border waste recycling.
3. no new notification obligation for waste electrical and electronic equipment from 2027
The planned extension of the notification obligation to non-hazardous waste electrical and electronic equipment from January 2027 has been criticised as „disproportionate“. It would jeopardise existing functioning trade relations and should be cancelled.
4. create room for innovation
The current limit of 250 tonnes for test purposes is insufficient for realistic industrial conditions. The limit should be raised to at least 15 tonnes so that technological innovations can be tested in practice.
„What we need now is political will“
The recycling industry sees its basic stance confirmed by the strategy - but is now calling for decisive action. „The EU Commission has set the direction with its strategy. Now we need political determination to free the recycling industry from unnecessary bureaucracy and finally make domestic trade fit for the future,“ summarised the participating associations.
The complete statement on the EU internal market strategy with all demands is available at available here.
Source: Communication bvse-Bundesverband Sekundärrohstoffe und Entsorgung e.V.
