The Recycling Association’s chief executive says the “increased bureaucracy” surrounding the export of waste for recycling since the UK left the European Union is “a real nuisance”.
However, while Dr Simon Ellin said the increased bureaucracy was “a pain in the bum”, the situation was “already improving” as exporters became more familiar with the processes.
Dr Ellin was speaking last week (25 February) at an online meeting of the North East Recycling Forum (NERF). He said that as much of his trade association’s funding came from its own brokerage firm, Independent Waste Paper Producers Ltd, which did 80% of its business across Europe, he had first-hand experience of the new export requirements.
Dr Simon Ellin is the chief executive of the Recycling Association
He said: “It’s a big change. It’s not going to make things easier; it will make things harder. But we have to embrace it. In the next five years we’ll treat it as the new normal.”
He added the huge demand for good quality UK fibre across the continent meant the Brexit transition period had come to an end at “the right time” for the waste paper sector.
“Europe are net importers of material. They are very small exporters of material. They like UK material – they like the quality, they like the price, and they will buy it.”
Changes
Dr Ellin identified several changes to the export process brought about by Brexit. “Before Brexit you needed one piece of paper to export from the UK to Europe, and it was called an Annex 7. We had frictionless trade. Brexit changed that,” he said.
Increased paperwork and higher costs for transport have caused issues for exporters (picture: Shutterstock)
Now, he said, the export process required customs declarations and transit documents, such as T1 documents.
There is also a requirement for additional customs inspections, Dr Ellin said. When goods arrive at a European mill, customs inspectors check them before they are unloaded to check they are as described.
And, Dr Ellin said VAT payments were “the real issue”. He said: “I’ve been lying awake for three months now, thinking ‘how are we going to cover VAT?’”
He added that the UK government had provided little assistance to exporters trying to understand the different VAT requirements of countries across the EU.
Effects
Dr Ellin went on to cite the effects of these changes. He said they had led to increased paperwork, costs and delays at loading sites, and increased office hours or limited loading times.
Delays at ports have been reported in the UK and across the EU. While the situation at UK ports had “improved massively”, Dr Ellin said, the delays at EU ports were due to the new requirements for T1 documents.
The issues surrounding VAT meant some European mills no longer wanted to work with exporters from the UK, Dr Ellin said.
‘Net importer’
Also speaking at the NERF meeting was Stuart Hayward-Higham, technical development director at waste management company Suez. He noted the UK was a “big importer” of waste for recycling, with several EU countries among the main recipients.
Stuart Hayward-Higham is technical development director at waste management company Suez
The total value of paper goods exported from the UK in 2018 was £18.5 billion, he said, while for plastics and rubber it was £18 billion. In 2019, prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, Turkey, the Netherlands and Germany were the most popular destinations for plastic exports, he said.
“We’re not taking our own resources and making stuff ourselves – we’re a net importer,” he said.
He said the past two months since the UK had left the EU had been “sticky” for exporters, but added that he believed the situation would improve over time.
“It’s been easier to import and export from non-EU routes because they didn’t change as much,” he said.
Mr Hayward-Higham concluded by saying he did not believe a reduction in exports of waste for recycling alone would drive manufacturing within the UK. “Manufacturing will not thrive through access to more secondary resources alone, so success in our sector post-Brexit relies on other policies and market movements.”
Northern Ireland
Another to speak at NERF’s meeting was Phil Conran, director of waste legislation consultancy 360 Environmental Ltd. He said the Northern Ireland protocol, which comes into force in mid-March, would provide further complications for exporters.
Phil Conran is director of waste legislation consultancy 360 Environmental Ltd
Northern Ireland will be treated an EU member state for exports to the province from the UK. This means normal EU export rules will apply. However, exports from Northern Ireland to the UK will be conducted under normal ‘duty of care’ rules.
Mr Conran also said no longer being party EU debates on waste export legislation would put the UK at a disadvantage, though he added Brexit was an opportunity to review historic EU controls, such as those on EWC codes.
“We are no longer party to any debates within Europe on EU regulations,” he said. “Our dependence on European markets, however, means that we will have to comply with those requirements if we want to continue moving stuff into or receive stuff from Europe. Therefore, effectively we’re going to have to do whatever is the outcome of those discussions without having any input.”
The post Brexit ‘increases bureaucracy’ around waste exports appeared first on letsrecycle.com.
Source: letsrecycle.com Plastic
