At the BIR World Recycling Convention held in Malaga, Spain, metal recycler Dhawal Shah of Metco warned that the revised EU Waste Shipment Regulation could sharply curtail scrap shipments from Europe to India, despite the country’s efforts to manage imported material responsibly.
Shah, who has spent three decades in the international scrap market, said the nation has poured significant capital into modern recycling facilities and has supplied extensive data on its regulatory framework to European authorities.
He added that he has long respected Europe’s transparency and rational approach, but feels that recent EU actions suggest a shift away from those principles.
According to Shah, formal exchanges between European regulators and the Indian government began in 2024, continued with additional information requests in 2025, and intensified in April 2026. He described queries about litter linked to imported metal waste and the size of Indian landfills as unexpected.
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Shah said the draft assessment by the bloc still concluded that the nation had not demonstrated sufficient capacity to handle imported waste, even after providing details on local, state-level handling procedures.
He pointed out that India processes around 12 million tonnes of ferrous and non-ferrous scrap per year, of which 18% comes from Europe. Shah warned that restrictions could disrupt established supply chains at a time when India and the EU are seeking to strengthen commercial ties through a free trade agreement.
He welcomed opportunities for European companies to supply semi-finished products such as aluminium and copper to India but he believes a different approach to scrap is unfair.