British Metals Recycling Association

British Metals Recycling Association
Abbreviation BMRA
Formation 2001
Legal status Non-profit company
Purpose Metal recycling in the United Kingdom
Location
  • 5 Ramsay Court, Hinchingbrooke Business Park, Huntingdon, Cambs, PE29 6FY
Region served
UK
Membership
300+ metal processing companies
Director General
Ian Hetherington
Main organ
BMRA Board
Affiliations Bureau of International Recycling, European Ferrous Recovery and Recycling Federation, European Metal Trade and Recycling Organisation
Website BMRA

As a trade association, the British Metals Recycling Association (BMRA) represents over 300 organisations working across UK’s metal recycling sector. Its website also helps members of the public to find a local metal recycling organisation. It is based in Cambridgeshire, England.

Function

The UK’s £5 billion metals recycling industry supplies environmentally sound raw materials to metals manufacturers around the world. The wider industry comprises an estimated 2,500 businesses, employing 8,000-10,000 people, and processes approximately 13 million tonnes of ferrous and non-ferrous metals every year.[1]

The BMRA’s members trade and process steel, aluminium, copper and most other ferrous and non-ferrous metals. At the same time, many recycle a wide range of related products, such as end of life vehicles, packaging, batteries, domestic appliances, building materials and electronic goods. The BMRA also represents those providing valuable services to this industry from transportation to computer software.

Membership is open to UK metals recycling companies of good standing that have been in business for at least two years. All members are expected to abide by the BMRA’s Code of Conduct.

Mission

The BMRA’s overarching mission is to promote the metals recycling industry while safeguarding the interests of its member companies. This mission is underpinned by five key objectives:

Ongoing activities

Under the 2013 Scrap Metal Dealers Act (England and Wales),[2] any individual or company that trades in scrap metal or end of life vehicles must have either a collector’s or a site licence from the local authority and must verify the identity of anyone looking to sell scrap metal to them. In addition, the Act means it is now illegal for them to buy scrap metal for cash in England and Wales.

Other matters currently being addressed by the BMRA include:[3]

History

The BMRA was formed in 2001 when the British Secondary Metals Association and the British Metals Federation (previously known as the British Scrap Federation) merged in order to better serve the rapidly changing industry.

The role of the trade association became more significant following the Wall Street Crash of 1929 when, in 1935, the government advised that the UK steel industry needed protection from European cartels.

During World War 2 such was the demand placed on scrap supply that merchants were put on the reserved occupation list exempting them from conscription. Then, when the British Iron and Steel Corporation sent buyers to the USA to purchase large quantities of scrap subsequent imports saw stocks rise to ‘alarming levels’ and forced dealers to accept lower prices.

After the war, members of the National Federation of Scrap Iron and Steel Merchants recovered uneconomic dumps of scrap. The austerity years preserved the status of scrap recovery as a matter of national priority and a ‘scrap drive’ campaign was launched to persuade the public to salvage every pound of reclaimable metal.In the late 60s, the scrap revolution began with the industry moving from being labour-intensive to capital-intensive, mechanising the recovery process.

While legislation was passed in 1988 requiring scrap metal recovery to be licensed as a ‘waste disposal’ activity, ten years later the first case was brought on whether certain grades of scrap metal should considered as waste.[4]

References

  1. "BREF_Jan 13 PDF" (PDF).
  2. "Scrap Metal Dealers Act 2013". www.legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 2015-11-05.
  3. "BMRA Policy Positions | BMRA". www.recyclemetals.org. Retrieved 2015-11-05.
  4. "A booming industry gets organised". www.mrw.co.uk. Retrieved 2015-11-05.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/6/2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.