Metal Recyclers Association Files Complaint Against DTSC

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The California Metal Recyclers Coalition has filed a complaint against the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC), alleging that DTSC’s actions threaten the operations of metal shredding and recycling facilities.

According to the Coalition, the unlawful imposition of "hazardous waste" facility permitting requirements is causing severe harm to the industry. Either the federal or California law does not classify scrap metal as a “hazardous waste”, it noted. Consequently, metal recycling facilities have not been considered as ‘hazardous waste” treatment facilities, it said.

The petition calls the DTSC’s action as unlawful. Furthermore, it threatens to undermine the scrap metal recycling industry in California.

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The Coalition highlighted that the scrap metal industry in the state offers critical recycling services for millions of end-of-life vehicles, household appliances and other forms of scrap metal. The recycling of metals leads to significant benefits by reducing the need for raw materials, reducing use of energy and preserving precious natural resources.

The “hazardous waste” classification by DTSC will lead to abandoning of the material in huge quantities, without being processed. This in turn will pose potential threats to health and safety, the Coalition said.