BRUSSELS, Sept. 9 — The European Commission has reportedly shifted its approach to addressing the ‘leakage’ of aluminium scrap from the EU, setting aside the long-awaited trade measures that were expected to be presented on September 23 in favour of an export ban targeting non-OECD countries.
According to a statement from the cabinet of Stéphane Séjourné, reported by Reuters, the Commission is now working on a delegated act under the EU Waste Shipments Regulation that would ban exports of waste, including aluminium scrap, to non-OECD countries, with an exception for some EU candidate countries. The shift is considerable.
Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security Maroš Šefčovič had originally announced preparatory work on a new measure to address the ‘leakage’ of aluminium scrap, and the Commission subsequently consulted stakeholders on possible measures covering aluminium scrap under CN 7602. The previously reported 15% export duty should now be treated as superseded, according to the media outlet. What is at stake for European scrap merchants and secondary aluminium producers is the fate of their major export outlets.
The new approach could prove more restrictive for some physical trade flows than a simple duty, because it targets destinations rather than raising the cost of exports. China and India, major Asian destinations for EU aluminium scrap, are not members of the OECD.
The precise impact on European aluminium scrap markets remains unclear. The Commission has not published the delegated act, so the treatment of individual CN 7602 grades, end-of-waste material, specific destination countries and any exemptions has yet to be established. The proposal will first be subject to public consultation and is expected to be adopted by the end of 2026, according to the statement from Séjourné’s cabinet.
In the corridors of the industry, reactions are wary. One European ingot producer told Fastmarkets on Friday: “This wouldn’t satisfy our industry, because scrap could still be exported to Asia through OECD countries. For us, this would be a disaster.
We have strongly pushed for an erga omnes (all destinations) duty because the situation is clear: it would avoid distinctions and prevent circumvention.” The wider picture includes the existing EU Waste Shipments Regulation, which already provides for tighter controls on exports of non-hazardous waste to non-OECD countries from May 21, 2027. Under that current framework, exports can in principle continue to certain non-OECD countries if those countries meet specified environmental conditions and are placed on an approved list.
The key question now is whether the proposed delegated act would effectively remove major export outlets for aluminium scrap or preserve access to destinations under an environmental-qualification regime. That could have a more direct effect on physical availability, scrap pricing and competition between European and overseas buyers than the previously reported duty. For the moment, there is no official Commission announcement or published legal text confirming the reported change.
The immediate source for the decision is information from Séjourné’s cabinet as reported by Reuters; the Commission’s publicly available material still relates to the earlier aluminium-scrap consultation and the existing Waste Shipments Regulation. What to watch next is the publication of the delegated act, and whether the public consultation reveals how much of Europe’s scrap trade would survive the new restrictions.
