Why Panizzolo recycling has long invested in following customers with targeted solution

In the summer of 2017, Beijing notified the global trade organization that from 2018 it would impose restrictions on the import of waste into the country. Thus began the Chinese campaign against the “yang laji”, the foreign garbage, now known as “Chinese National Sword”. A war without quarter after Chinese companies had imported rubbish without much distinction for thirty years, they were so hungry for raw materials to be recycled.

Although China still accepts some categories today, the purity threshold required for metal waste is so high that it is almost impossible for most exporters to trade. The crisis highlights all the limits of a circular economy, not always directed to close the circle of recovery.
Before the Chinese National Sword, recycling companies focused on recovering the most valuable waste portions while those considered less noble or more complex to refine, having a difficult commercial position, were completely shipped to China.
The new policy takes away an important safety valve for countries around the world. There are extreme cases like the United Kingdom and Japan, in great difficulty for a policy that was based on the complete export of waste, while the United States since August 2018 have seen their export share reduced due to a war of duties with Beijing.

In April 2019 an analysis by Greenpeace on the changes in commercial waste routes showed an exponential increase in imports both to the European Union and to developing states in south-east Asia. For this reason, in May 2019 at Basel conference, member countries introduced changes and restrictions to international trade. Appropriate inspection bodies have begun to supervise exporters, obliged to market better quality waste. The goal is to force all countries to increase the treatment steps, allowing importers to maximize their valorisation and reintroduction into the production process
Nowadays the circular economy must therefore adopt a new approach in the treatment cycle. Italy and Europe must take responsibility for encouraging companies to complete the metal recovery cycle, changing course with respect to past and recent politics.

Anticipating this, Panizzolo Recycling has gained a concrete experience in the End-of-Waste field. The Basel Convention confirms the company policy that Panizzolo has been pursuing for years, offering solutions aimed to obtain the highest economic value for processed products. It is not a secret that the global market is rapidly moving towards the exclusive demand for quality metals, benefiting with an increase in sales, those companies that were already within these parameters before the Chinese crisis.

In order not to get stuck with your business, you need to sharpen your weapons and aim for a path of technological innovation. By updating and elevating the treatment phases, it will be possible to seize the opportunities of this change and manage the abundance of scrap and metals that the sector is desperately trying to reintroduce into the production cycle.