Participants of the discussion “Ecology – the new responsibility of business”, which TASS held today at INNOPROM, called recyclable materials the “new oil”.
Director of the Association NSRO RUSLOM.COM Viktor Kovshevny noted that today the scrap collection industry is really appreciated more than the oil market. After all, the new duties on the export of scrap in the amount of 70 euros are at least one and a half times more than the export duty on oil.
“We often hear about ‘green’ projects, ESG-investing on a national or continental scale, but often there is a feeling that we are practically like Oblomov. Let’s turn to reality. I am now talking about the metallurgy and scrap collection industry. In fact, this is the very industry that, taking into account the upcoming changes in the carbon tax, today allows our industry to remain competitive and maintain at least $ 2 billion a year (if we count ferrous and non-ferrous metals). For example, according to the calculations of the German Association of Scrap Metal Recyclers BDSV (Bundesvereinigung Deutscher Stahlrecycling und Entsorgungsunternehmen), in the iron and steel industry alone, one tonne of scrap can save up to 350 euros in climate and carbon taxes. Taking into account the volume of the market that we now have in Russia, for ferrous scrap this is at least 26 million tonnes, plus non-ferrous metallurgy, we will get exactly those very big figures”.
Viktor Kovshevny drew attention to the fact that, notwithstanding the real environmental, economic and social benefits of using scrap metals in the metallurgical process, the scrap procurement industry is not only unsupported by the state financially, but is also under excessive government regulation, under conditions of regular restrictions in the field of exports. “Our state should maximally support any environmental projects, both at the level of individual enterprises and at the level of segments and entire industries. This support can consist in simple actions: creating conditions for recyclers and metallurgy, which is one of the main consumers of recyclable materials, that would be no worse, at least as the same in the world. Then the industry of recycling and metallurgy will develop”. According to Viktor Kovshevny, the future of Russia is waste-free production, a waste-free industry.
At the same time, for example, the recycling fee, which should go to subsidize the costs of utilizers and the development of the recycling infrastructure, and is collected annually in the amount of over 200 billion roubles (and in 2020 exceeded 300 billion), is not really allocated for its intended purpose. The utilizers received absolutely nothing from this collection.
“We see that we have about 60 million cars in our country, our country in the recycling industry, if we compare with the world average, lags behind in the utilization of cars by 21 times. There is money, namely, the same 2 trillion roubles, which are managed by the Ministry of Industry and Trade. And we still do not have a recycling industry. Instead, we are now faced with the question of what should be done in the metallurgy and scrap collection industry, which in themselves bear a huge social burden in single-industry towns – and at the same time, instead of support, including in export directions, they are now receiving such a sharp increase in duties. Why do America and Japan never restrict their exports? Yes, only because behind every job in the metallurgy, behind every job in the scrap collection industry, there are 4 to 10 jobs in other industries. And therefore, speaking about investing, I believe that, first, we need to put things in order with the money that we have already collected. Secondly, we shall, together with the state, develop such rules of the game when any decisions are made with a real assessment of the regulatory impact”, said Viktor Kovshevny.
About INNOPROM
INNOPROM is an international industrial exhibition that has been held in Yekaterinburg annually since 2010. It is one of the main industrial, trade and export sites in Russia. It is one of the key exhibitions of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation.
In 2021, INNOPROM will be held for the 11th time and will be held from 5 to 8 July at the Ekaterinburg-EXPO IEC. More than 43,000 visitors from 22 countries are expected.