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Europe talks the talk on recycling. But can it walk the walk? The upcoming Circular Economy Act must prove we have what it takes.
Our valuable battery waste is currently leaving Europe on ships headed halfway across the world. And we’re doing little to stop them.
Whilst Europe manages to collect old batteries and shred them into so-called black mass, we then let this valuable dust leave to South East Asia to be refined, and for all the valuable raw materials to be extracted. And we’re seeing a similar story with scrap aluminium.
Europe’s inability to close this loophole, and keep these critical raw materials in the continent, means we are missing out on a golden opportunity to reduce our dependencies on other countries. The ongoing oil crisis has shown just how sensitive we are to external dependencies.
