Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what estimate his Department has made of (a) the amount of scrap metal produced in the UK, (b) the maximum demand for scrap metal that can be used in the UK and (c) the impact that a ban on scrap metal exports would have on the UK economy and metals recycling sector.

My department funded a Warwick University report entitled ‘Domestic Scrap Steel Recycling – Economic, Environmental and Social Opportunities’, published February 2021, which shows that UK produces around 11.3mn tonnes of steel scrap and 1.1mn tonnes of aluminium per year. The Government has not conducted research into the volume of other types of metal scrap.

The same report highlighted that in the years leading up to 2020, the UK’s demand for steel scrap was around 2.6mn tonnes and 800k tonnes for aluminium.

My department is in close discussion with steel and aluminium producers and metal recyclers on a range of options to improve the supply of scrap, including export controls.