Declaration on metals recycling and sustainable development
30 November 2006
Recycled content of metals and alloys is a poor indicator of environmental performance and may discourage the efficient production and use of recycled metals.
That is the main message given today in a declaration on recycling principles issued by a broad coalition of metal industry associations, including the Nickel Institute.
The Declaration states that a product systems approach provides a truer picture of the sustainability of a material or product than simple recycled content. The Declaration focuses instead on the end-of-life of products and the flows of material that become available for recycling.
The objective is to encourage product designers to plan for product recovery and material recycling in ways that reduce overall environmental impacts.
The Declaration is directed to all stakeholders in the metals value chain, including public policy makers. It hopes to encourage further product and material recycling by improving the understanding of metals recycling, especially how metals recycling can best be encouraged and thus contribute to sustainable development.
The Declaration is a product of the metals industry increasing focus on materials stewardship where metal producing companies extend their interest beyond the plant gate to a consideration of the whole life cycle of their products.
It reflects too the understanding that metal scrap is a valuable resource that, when transformed into new products, increases the material and energy efficiency of product systems.
The text of the Declaration and the list of adherents is found here.
