“Save Our Scrap”: Raffmetal joins Europe’s recycling industry to stop the uncontrolled outflow of aluminium scrap

Aluminium scrap is a strategic resource for Europe’s industrial decarbonisation, yet it is increasingly vanishing beyond the continent’s borders.

Raffmetal, together with other European leaders in the recycling sector, is launching an urgent appeal to the European Commission: immediate action is needed to stop the uncontrolled export of aluminium scrap (HS 7602).

In recent months, exports have reached record levels, depriving European companies of the lowest-carbon raw material. The consequences are already visible: furnaces shutting down, plants at risk of closure, thousands of jobs under threat and, above all, a serious setback to the EU’s climate targets.

“Without scrap, we simply cannot survive. If Europe doesn’t act now, recycling plants will shut down” is the collective warning shared across the industry.

In this context, Raffmetal strongly supports the introduction of a horizontal export measure on aluminium scrap, in order to:

• Stop the uncontrolled outflow of a strategic material for Europe’s green transition and industrial security;
• Safeguard the resilience of the recycling industry and the competitiveness of European companies;
• Contribute concretely to the achievement of climate goals through the use of low-emission secondary raw materials.

Aluminium recycling is one of the pillars of Europe’s circular economy.
Protecting aluminium scrap means protecting the future of sustainability and industry in our continent.

The time to act is now.