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SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China will restrict imports of scrap steel and aluminum from July 1, the environment ministry said on Saturday.

Scrap steel and aluminum would be moved from an unrestricted import list of solid waste products usable as raw materials to a restricted import list, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment said in a statement.

Relevant departments were researching the formulation of standards for recycled copper and aluminum, it said.

Copper and aluminum raw materials meeting relevant national standards would not be considered solid waste, and can be imported as regular goods, it said.

China’s imports of solid waste fell more than half between January and mid-November compared with the same period a year earlier, as the country tightened a ban on solid waste imports.

The restrictions on waste imports are part of a “war on pollution” begun in 2017 that aims to clean up the economy and encourage domestic firms to recycle.