PRESS RELEASE – for immediate release
Federation of Aluminium Consumers in Europe – FACE
Friday 20 June 2025, Brussels
PRESS RELEASE
FACE CALLS FOR URGENT ACTION ON SCRAP EXPORTS TO SAFEGUARD GREEN TRANSITION AND INDUSTRIAL RESILIENCE
The Federation of Aluminium Consumers in Europe (FACE) is calling on EU policymakers to adopt urgent and pragmatic measures to curb the mass export of aluminium scrap from the European Union. Over 1.2 million tonnes of aluminium scrap leave the EU every year, undermining decarbonisation goals, industrial competitiveness, and strategic autonomy. Further leakage is taking place as one of the effects of the new U.S. tariffs of 50% on aluminium.
In a new position paper, FACE outlines a comprehensive proposal to retain and better utilise aluminium scrap within Europe. The organisation warns that the growing loss of both low- and high-quality scrap to global competitors threatens the viability of EU aluminium manufacturers, especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which depend on recycled aluminium as a precious low-carbon raw material.
“Recycled aluminium uses 95% less energy than primary production, and only 0.6 tonnes of CO2 per tonne of aluminium, compared to 12 tonnes of CO2 per tonne of primary aluminium, making it a cornerstone of Europe’s green industrial strategy,” said FACE Secretary-General Mario Conserva. “Yet the EU is effectively exporting its circular economy, and with it, its competitiveness.”
Key Policy Recommendations:
- Temporary Export Tariff: Introduce a limited, time-bound export tariff on aluminium scrap to ease pressure on domestic supply while longer-term reforms take shape.
- Regulatory Reform: Streamline customs and environmental regulations that currently discourage efficient sorting, transport, and recycling within the EU.
- Strategic Recognition: Include all forms of aluminium scrap in the EU’s list of strategic raw materials, ensuring access to incentives under key industrial and green policy frameworks.
- Boost innovation and uptake of recycled scrap through EU funding, public-private tech programmes, and targeted incentives to develop advanced sorting solutions and increase the use of scrap, particularly post-consumer recycled scrap.
- Support for SMEs: Create dedicated funding for recycling infrastructure, energy cost relief, and R&D, particularly targeting small businesses and technological innovation.
- Preserve Primary Supply: Recognise the continued importance of low-carbon primary aluminium alongside recycled inputs.
FACE also cautions that the recent doubling of US tariffs on steel and aluminium to 50% creates a new situation where massive quantities of EU high value scrap could be drawn out of the European market. This because US purchasers could offer high premiums, as scrap is excluded from Trump’s tariffs. FACE suggests that, on top of the aforementioned recommendations, the Commission may want to consider urgent measures, including high export tariffs, in order to prevent a major crisis in the supply of the aluminium industry’s raw materials. Recycled aluminium fills part of the EU’s growing gap in raw aluminium. “EU import dependency for primary aluminium is now above 87%” declares Conserva “and if the EU aluminium value chain starts losing domestic supplies for secondary aluminium, the situation would be catastrophic.”
Conserva concluded by saying: “As demand for clean, circular materials is skyrocketing, putting in place smart, targeted policies could turn scrap into a great lever for resilience.”
Read the full position paper and policy recommendations here.
The press release is available here.
