The Federal Association of Steel Recycling and Waste Management Companies (BDSV) and the Association of German Metal Traders and Recyclers (VDM) have presented a position paper with a list of demands regarding raw materials, energy, supply chains, EU regulations and various other topics at the beginning of 2025. The document includes a number of requests to be submitted to German and European institutions in the four-year period of 2025-29. Its aim is to re-establish the central role of the recycling industry in terms of resource conservation, climate protection and the competitiveness of the German economy.
Their first request is to recognize the centrality of the metal recycling industry, by enhancing the “consideration of the upstream recycling industry in national and European raw materials policy”, as well as recognizing “certified waste management companies as key players in the circular economy”.
Secondly, they would like to secure international steel markets and the metal recycling industry by promoting international commodity partnerships, including raw materials in all trade agreements, eliminating trade restrictions on exports and revising EU regulations to streamline trading.
Thirdly, they ask for a more competitive energy supply for metal industries. Energy costs are particularly affecting melting plants, which are obliged to reduce their capacities to remain competitive. “This has a direct impact on the demand for recycled steel and metal and significantly affects the circular economy”, the position paper says. To counter this situation, their demands include a reduction of government levies and taxes to a European minimum level, a quicker expansion in the use of renewable energy, and temporary support for companies during the energy transition.
Moreover, they believe that lighter red tape procedures might accelerate innovation and investments. Thus, they aim at simplifying approval procedures at European, federal and state level, avoiding national tightening of European standards, and speeding up procedures to promote investments.
Another issue concerns pollutant removal. The recycling industry often has to deal with pollutants contained in waste materials that were “legally compliant at the time of their manufacture”, but now no longer compliant. Legislation regarding chemicals sometimes makes the processing of these materials tricky, so BDSV and VDM are asking for realistic limits for the recycling industry and “appropriate transition periods for the sustainable recycling of existing materials”.
Their last demand concerns more climate-friendly logistics management. At the moment, trucks are the most used means of transport for scrap, but also the most polluting. They propose to shorten wagon service times, introduce cost advantages for rail transport, “promote single-wagon traffic and reduce route prices to increase efficiency and CO₂ savings” and improve the reliability of rail transport.