Scan of Metals and Minerals Recycling Programs and Associated Climate Change Impacts Final Report March, 2004 Project undertaken by the Recycling Council of Alberta in partnership with the Recycling Council of British Columbia, Saskatchewan Waste Reduction Council, Recycling Council of Ontario, Réseau des ressourceries du Québec, and Clean Nova Scotia With financial support from Acknowledgements Government of Canada Action Plan 2000 on Climate Change Enhanced Recycling, Action Plan 2000 on Climate Change, Minerals and Metals Program — The Government of Canada Action Plan 2000 on Climate Change Minerals and Metals Program, managed by the Minerals and Metals Sector of Natural Resources Canada, is working towards reducing Canada’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the minerals and metals sector. By matching funds with other partners, this program supports initiatives that enhance recycling practices and provide GHG emission reductions. Page i Scan of Metals and Minerals Recycling Programs and Associated Climate Change Impacts Executive Summary The extent and effectiveness of programs diverting metals and minerals waste varies significantly across Canada, as well as internationally. The significant differences in approaches to diverting these materials from the waste stream presents obstacles to programs managers attempting to assess the best approach to program development. This project included the identification of policies and programs within Canada, as well as internationally, that address the diversion of metals and minerals. Using available program data where possible, these programs were evaluated using a number of factors to measure their effectiveness. Effectiveness was then correlated to program approach to assess the level of success of various program types. To provide local expertise and national perspective to the project, non- governmental organizations across the country were solicited as project partners, with the Recycling Council of Alberta as the project coordinator. Successful partnership agreements were established with the Recycling Council of British Columbia, Saskatchewan Waste Reduction Council, Recycling Council of Ontario, Réseau des ressourceries du Québec, and Clean Nova Scotia, to cover all regions of the country. Data from each region was compiled into a master database with the capability to correlate programs by criteria such as material type and program characteristics. This database is a potential source to update contacts in the NRCan Industry Framework, as well as provide additional information on companies and programs currently involved in metals and minerals recycling in Canada. Recommendation: Conduct a comparison between the Recycling Scan database and the NRCan Industry Framework database to determine necessary updates. The most commonly collected metals are aluminum and steel. There are well- developed markets for both of these commodities in most areas and this has facilitated their collection and recycling. In more populated regions, a significant volume of non-ferrous metals, including copper, brass and gold are also collected for recycling. These metals are not commonly collected in more remote regions such as the Yukon and Northwest Territories. Emerging markets identified within the metals / minerals recycling industry include electronics, mercury and fly ash. Diminishing markets include auto hulks and household appliances, as non-metal components such as plastics increase, reducing the viability of recycling through the metals recycling stream. Page ii Final Report March 2004 A number of hard-to-handle and marginal products currently have minimal recycling opportunities, but present possible future diversion opportunities. Examples include wire and metal rope, propane tanks, small appliances, paint cans (in some jurisdictions), aerosols, drywall, and mercury switches. Market value of the material, not government directed programs or policies, has had the greatest influence on the total volume of metal recycling in Canada. Sorting and cleanliness seem to be the key factors that determine the value of recoverable metals or minerals. The metal recycling industry, well established for many years, has historically been relatively stable. However, this industry faces significant price fluctuations affected by the demand for finished products, the exchange rate and the exports to foreign countries. The international nature of metals markets has been demonstrated in recent months through the significant increase in the value of ferrous scrap. The very large demand for scrap metal in Asian countries is having a strong effect on North American markets, with prices rising literally daily in many cases. This situation benefits scrap metal dealers, and potentially could drive increased diversion, through strong market demand. At the same time, higher scrap prices have a negative impact on steel producers, who are required to pay higher feedstock prices, while still competing on the international market for sales of finished steel products. The auto recycling and wrecking groups represent the largest component of the metal recovery industry in Canada, followed by scrap metal yards. These groups have been facing increasing costs associated with higher operating requirements that have had a negative impact on their viability. Recent increases in scrap metal prices have helped to mitigate this situation. Mineral recycling is minimal in many regions. However, the recycling of both asphalt and concrete is increasing in most major urban centres. One factor leading to this trend is the growing percentage of private and public construction contracts that are specifying the recovery and, in many cases, the re-utilization of the recovered asphalt and or concrete. Gypsum is effectively diverted and recycled in BC, due to an extensive landfill ban in the lower mainland region. In most other jurisdictions, the higher costs associated with the special handling of separated gypsum makes landfilling the preferred option to the construction sector. Until recently, it appeared that the recycling of metals and minerals had peaked due to economics; however, the recent drastic increase in international demand for ferrous scrap may drive increased diversion of this material. At the same time, valuable minerals and metals continue to be lost to landfill in most regions. Page iii Scan of Metals and Minerals Recycling Programs and Associated Climate Change Impacts Regulations and public programs for the recycling of metals and minerals vary across the country. However, many similarities also exist, particularly in the areas of metal products such as beverage containers, automobiles and white goods. Areas that have adopted strict guidelines and bans on what materials may be disposed of in municipal or regional disposal facilities have experienced increased diversion rates. Recovery of materials has also been promoted through the establishment of stewardship programs covering materials such as beverage containers and lead acid batteries. Numerous international policy initiatives have been identified that direct the recovery of metal. The use of product stewardship initiatives, in particular, has been popular on the international scene. Alternative economic incentives such as landfill bans, raising landfill tipping fees, and applying direct consumer fees at time of purchase or disposal, have also been used internationally and have been effective tools for diverting metal wastes. Of the 17 million tonnes of steel production in 1997, 8.5 million tonnes of scrap steel were consumed as input. An estimated 58% of food tins, 77% of household appliances and over 90% of automobiles were recycled in 1999. A total of about 10 million tonnes of ferrous scrap are collected for recycling in Canada annually. As previously stated, Canadian steel production consumes 8.5 million tonnes of scrap steel as feedstock. Based on the previous numbers, Canada feeds its steel industry primarily through domestic recycled feedstock. Similarly, the majority of other metal scrap consumed in production is sourced domestically. However, the potential exists to utilize additional metals that could be collected through enhanced recycling efforts by increasing recycled content. Canada's 1997 aluminum production was estimated at 2.3 million tonnes, with 4% of this production from recycled material. Production increased to 2.7 million tonnes in 2002. 136,000 tonnes of copper were recycled in 1997, accounting for 24% of the total amount of metal refined in Canada. Recycled lead accounted for 48% (132 thousand tonnes) of the metal produced by Canadian refineries in 1997. Canada is a net exporter of scrap metal, exporting a net of more than a million tonnes annually, primarily ferrous. The level of data collection for volumes of metals and minerals collected for recycling varies considerably between provinces, making national tracking very difficult. In general, records of recycling for minerals such as asphalt and cement are not kept. Recent initiatives to upgrade and harmonize provincial data collection systems are currently underway. Increasing the comprehensiveness Page iv Final Report March 2004 and reliability of recycling data collected across the country would assist tracking and analysis efforts in the future. Recommendation: Support and facilitate improved data collection of diversion and recycling volumes throughout Canada. Programs and processes were evaluated according to the following criteria: ° Recovery rate ° Process residuals ° Influence