NEW restrictions on imports of scrap metal into China will come into force today, nearly two years after China told the World Trade Organization it would stop accepting shipments of solid waste as part of a sweeping campaign against “foreign garbage.”

The country is restricting imports of eight further types of scrap metal from today, including high-grade copper and aluminum scrap, known in China as “Category 6,” as well as types of steel scrap.

Scrap copper, which can be recycled into new metal or used as a direct-melt by fabricators making copper products, is seen as the most significant item on the latest restricted list.

Companies that want to keep importing these items must apply for quotas from China’s environment ministry, demonstrating they have facilities to process the material in compliance with environmental protection standards.

The ministry has so far issued around 240,000 tons of import quotas for copper scrap, about 54,000 tons for aluminium scrap and almost 15,000 tons for steel scrap.

China tightened the impurity threshold on nonferrous scrap imports to 1 percent from March 2018 and the ferrous scrap threshold was set at 0.5 percent.

The country banned imports of low-grade Category 7 copper scrap and 15 other types of solid waste, including scrap vessels and iron and steel slag, from the end of 2018. It also stopped giving traders scrap copper import quotas in 2018, meaning only actual users could import.

Since the beginning of 2019, only 18 Chinese ports have been allowed to accept imports of solid waste, including scrap metal.

China will restrict a further 16 types of solid waste, including stainless steel scrap, scrap tungsten, scrap magnesium and scrap titanium from year end. (SD-Agencies)