2 July 2020 - Huntingdon, UK: The British Metals Recycling Association (BMRA) welcomes the Prime Minister’s plans to invest in a homes and infrastructure projects construction programme and, in particular, his pledge to “build back greener”.

The announcement follows a commitment he made in Parliament last week to ensure that UK steel manufacturers are “at the front of the queue” as Government rolls out its “infrastructure revolution”.

However, while the news that UK steel producers will be front and centre when the projects are established, given the Government’s commitment to decarbonisation and the circular economy, the BMRA hopes Government will combine this commitment with its ‘build greener’ pledge.

“The ‘build back greener’ plan offers Government the perfect opportunity to set firm targets in terms of green procurement when it comes to awarding construction contracts. Where practicable, construction companies should be required to use materials comprising set levels of recycled content,” said James Kelly, BMRA’S CEO.

“This measure would contribute to Government’s decarbonisation goals as using scrap to produce products such as rebar is less carbon intensive, and would reduce the need for primary materials, which is in line with the objectives of the circular economy,”

With two sector-specific apprenticeships for metals recycling and a real need for new workers, the BMRA also welcomes the Prime Minister’s "opportunity guaranteed" commitment for every person to have an apprenticeship or in-work placement.

“I look forward to seeing more details in the coming weeks, both about Government plans to encourage employers to take on apprentices and how it will use its plans for build back greener to help it power towards its decarbonisation goals”, Mr Kelly added.

Contact for BMRA:
Antonia Grey
t. 01480 455249
e. [email protected]
Twitter @BMRAUK
Facebook/BMRA

About the BMRA and metals recycling:

The British Metals Recycling Association (BMRA) is the trade association representing the £7 billion UK Metal Recycling sector. It has been headquartered in Huntingdonshire for 46 years, previously in Brampton and most recently at Hinchingbrooke Business Park. Members of the public can use the BMRA website to find a metal recycler – www.recyclemetals.org.

• The UK metal recycling industry is so efficient at recovering metal from end-of-life products that more is recovered than can be consumed domestically. As a result, over 80 per cent of all ‘waste’ metal is now destined for export. This means we are competing against suppliers from the USA and Japan who are not required to characterise recycled metal as waste.
• Every tonne of recycled steel saves: 1.5 tonnes of iron ore, 0.5 tonnes of coal, 70% of the energy,
• 40% of the water, 75% of CO2 emissions, and 0.97 tonnes of CO2.
• Recycling of metals is also the major contributor to the UK’s achievement of targets under EU Directives such as end-of-life vehicles and packaging.
• In 2017, the UK exported over 9 million tonnes of recovered ferrous (iron and steel) metal and approximately 800,000 thousand tonnes of non-ferrous metal (such as aluminium and copper).

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