FEAD call to secure market for recycled post-consumer waste in permanent magnets

FEAD, the European Waste Management Association, representing the private waste and resource management industry across Europe, is concerned about the targeted amendment to the Critical Raw Materials Act. The Commission’s proposal extends recycled content targets for permanent magnets beyond post-consumer waste to cover pre-consumer waste as well. This extension is detrimental for the investments in recycling capacities for post-consumer waste as it hampers market visibility and investment security. FEAD members consider the deadline of December 2031 largely sufficient for the needed investments in recycling capacity, provided that the right legislative signals are given. 

FEAD´s policy recommendations for the Circular Economy Act already warned about the need to protect the definition of recycled content by ensuring that only post-consumer waste is counted. Pre-consumer, post-industrial waste and by-products, which are already part of controlled industrial loops, cannot be equated with post-consumer waste. Post-consumer waste must be collected from dispersed sources, requiring the commitment of users, consumers and collection systems, and is more prone to pollution, loss of traceability, and contamination. Its treatment is therefore significantly more complex and costly and cannot compete with pre-consumer waste, which as it is clearly stated in the explanatory memorandum of the Commission´s proposal, ‘is more easily recycled and currently more accessible’. A combination of both under the same target is therefore detrimental for investments in recycling capacities of post-consumer waste as it does not offer the needed market visibility and investment security.

FEAD proposals for the targeted amendment to the Critical Raw Materials Act:

• Limit the recycled content target to post-consumer waste only. Availability and access to materials can be guaranteed by setting appropriate targets without being excessive. Targets that start low but are progressive and clear provide the right incentives while guaranteeing market visibility and investment security for recyclers.

• As an alternative, separate targets must be introduced for post-consumer waste and pre-consumer waste. FEAD strongly opposes to a combination of both options under the same target for the reasons stated in this paper.

Amendment proposal to Article 29:

• paragraph 1 is replaced by the following:

 ‘1. By 24 May 2027 or two years from the entry into force of the delegated act referred to in paragraph 2, whichever is later, any natural or legal person that places on the market products referred to in Article 28(1) which incorporate one or more permanent magnets referred to in Article 28(1), point (b)(i), (ii) and (iii), and for which the total weight of all such permanent magnets exceeds 0,2 kg shall make publicly available on a free-access website the share of neodymium, dysprosium, praseodymium, terbium, boron, samarium, nickel and cobalt recovered from pre-consumer and post-consumer waste, including the shares of such waste produced within the Union, present in the permanent magnets incorporated in the product.’;

 (b) in paragraph 2, the first subparagraph is replaced by the following:

 ‘2. The Commission shall adopt a delegated act in accordance with Article 38 to supplement this Regulation by establishing rules for the calculation and verification of the share of neodymium, dysprosium, praseodymium, terbium, boron, samarium, nickel and cobalt recovered from pre-consumer and post-consumer waste, including the shares of such waste produced within the Union, present in the permanent magnets incorporated in the products referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article.’;

 (c) in paragraph 3, the first subparagraph is replaced by the following:

 ‘3. After the entry into force of the delegated act adopted pursuant to paragraph 2, and in any event by 31 December  2031, the Commission shall adopt delegated acts supplementing this Regulation by laying down minimum shares for neodymium, dysprosium, praseodymium, terbium, boron, samarium, nickel and cobalt recovered from, pre-consumer and post-consumer waste, including the shares of such waste produced within the Union, or any combination thereof   that must be present in the permanent magnet incorporated in the products referred to in paragraph 1.’;

 (d) in paragraph 3, third subparagraph, point (a) is replaced by the following:

 ‘(a) The existing and forecasted availability of neodymium, dysprosium, praseodymium, terbium, boron, samarium, nickel and cobalt recovered from pre-consumer and post-consumer waste sources as well as Union recycling capacity;’

FEAD is the European Waste Management Association, representing the private waste and resource management industry across Europe, including 21 national waste management federations and 3,000 waste management companies. FEAD represents the entire waste management value chain, including waste collection, sorting, energy recovery and final disposal. Private waste management companies operate in 60% of municipal waste markets in Europe and in 75% of industrial and commercial waste. This means more than 500,000 local jobs, fuelling €5 billion of investments into the economy every year. For more information, please contact: info@fead.be