scrap
EVENT
Doug Kramer from ISRI and Korina Kirk from SMRANZ
“THE BIGGEST OPPORTUNITY OUR INDUSTRY HAS EVER HAD.” The 47th Annual General Meeting of the Scrap Metal Recycling Association of New Zealand was held in Dunedin in August and proved the point that in times of hardship, there is strength in unity. Metalcorp’s Trevor Munro was adamant during his ferrous market report at this year’s Scrap Metal Recycling Association of New Zealand (SMRANZ) Annual General Meeting that, when the local market emerges from the current downturn affecting global metal prices, it will be the best trading environment ever seen. “This is the biggest opportunity our industry has ever had. We will be experts in watching our buying prices and margins. We will know everything there is to know about both our costs and our customers. In short, we will be well-run, well-oiled money-making machines,” he said. While there is undoubtedly opportunity in adversity, the AGM’s keynote speaker, Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries’ (ISRI) National Chair, Doug Kramer, believes prices have further to fall yet. But looking to the future he echoed Trevor Munro’s sentiments. “It’s the right time to get lean and mean, because this will pass and scrap prices will come back. And when they do, you want to be as ready as you can be.” Kramer’s key message to the assembled SMRANZ membership though focused on workplace safety; a core value for ISRI and a topic that Kramer has been instrumental in advocating for during his term as ISRI Chair. “Safety in this industry is not just something we talk about. It needs to be a crucial aspect of our culture; even more so than turning a profit. In fact production comes after safety,” he said. Kramer announced that he will give SMRANZ access to the entire ISRI Safety Resources Catalogue – a large and comprehensive collection of digital safety guides and resources for employers and employees within the scrap metal recycling industry at no charge to enable the resources to be tailored to New Zealand operations (SMRANZ is currently working through the administration of this system). SMRANZ President Korina Kirk’s overview of activities during the last 12 months reminded members that there are a variety of challenges the New Zealand industry faces beyond the headlines around global scrap metal prices. In April the industry was hit with strengthened inspection requirements for exports to India, which effectively halted all export traffic there due to requirements around inspection agents at ports of origin. Thanks to the efforts of ISRI, the Bureau of International Recycling (BIR) and the Metal Recyclers Association of India (MRAI), the implementation
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date was postponed long enough to secure modifications to the proposed requirements. The confirmation that self-inspections will be permitted in some situations progresses things positively for SMRANZ members, although as Kirk suggested, there is still some way to go with this issue. Also covered in detail was SMRANZ’s submission to the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade on ‘Environmental Goods of Interest to New Zealand’ (which advocated for the inclusion of scrap commodities and recycling equipment as an ‘Environmental Good’ and thus eligible for tariff reductions). The Basel Convention continues to impact on New Zealand’s industry, with local recyclers of electronic materials, vehicles and plastics increasingly restricted by Convention guidelines, due mainly to the country’s geographic location and the almost total need to tranship goods through external ports. Kirk recently met with Minister for the Environment, Hon. Dr. Nick Smith to highlight these issues and ask for governmental support in working through the barriers the Basel Convention presents to local operators. Kirk also covered environmental issues, including SMRANZ’s offer through Local Government New Zealand to partner with local council employees and elected officials in order to assist them in understanding more about the industry. The potential for product stewardship schemes to distort scrap markets through processes that preclude certain scrap companies from competing in the marketplace continue to pose a threat. Kirk urged SMRANZ members to continue to oppose product stewardship schemes where they apply to products that are already being processed into commodity grade materials and sold into viable markets. “Until such a time as restrictions and hurdles that limits our ability to get these commodities to market are removed, New Zealand will not be able to successfully handle its electronic ‘waste’, or a host of other products that are viewed as a problem domestically even with vibrant markets available,” Kirk stated. Doug Kramer’s keynote speech focusing on safety was especially pertinent at this year’s AGM, with the forthcoming changes to New Zealand’s health and safety legislation a hot topic for all Kiwi industries, scrap metal recycling included. SMRANZ has been undertaking preparatory work on several fronts, including meeting with WorkSafe NZ in order to discuss best steps to work more proactively together (currently the classification system used in New Zealand puts scrap metal recycling under the ‘Manufacturing’ sector, which has dramatic consequences for reported injury statistics). The past year has also seen the launch of a new monthly safety alert email to members advising of current industry-wide safety issues. Kirk noted that email tracking suggests around 65 percent of the intended audience is actively reading the alerts, which she calls a good start. Next year the SMRANZ AGM and convention – in its larger biennial format that will include exhibitor space – moves further north to Christchurch.