FEATURE
A real steel
Is theft delaying the metal waste industry's recovery?
By Francesca Newton
THERE’S no doubt it’s been a difficult year for everyone, and the metal recycling industry has by no means escaped the trials of COVID-19. The ups and downs of 2019, followed by this year’s pandemic and Brexit looming large for the new year, all contribute to an uncertain picture of the industry’s position as 2021 approaches.
Changeable volumes in 2019 made for a difficult year overall, and although the industry entered 2020 relatively robustly, the situation became more acute in March when factories and household waste and recycling sites closed. With important material streams suddenly cut off, the industry found itself facing yet another challenging period.
Alongside concerns around supply, another worrying trend has emerged this year; a rise in the rates of metal theft and illegal activity. With everyone’s attention focused on COVID-19 for the last nine months, the waste metal industry has recorded a steady rise in theft crime and illegal operators.
When it makes the news, metal theft often relates to smaller, more common crimes, like stolen catalytic converters and bits of lead pinched from church roofs, but incidents are now occurring on a much larger scale, with entire skips being lifted from outside factories in some cases.
“It’s a real issue,” says Antonia Grey, Head of Communications and Public Affairs at the British Metals and Recycling Association (BMRA). “It’s compounded by the fact that cash-paying operators - who are often not licensed - are trading with impunity because they know that the Scrap Metal Dealers Act is not being enforced at the moment, and it’s not being enforced because there’s not enough funding for local authorities or police services.”
Last year, the Office for National Statistics reported a 25% rise in incidents of general metal theft for the period of 2017-18 compared with the previous year, and despite the total number of metal theft incidents dropping to a low point in 2017, figures rose again in 2018 and have remained relatively static ever since.
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