Make a world of difference when you scrap your car

How to ensure your old car doesn’t become an environmental hazard.

You may have never had to scrap a vehicle before, so you haven’t had to think about the consequences of what happens to your vehicle. Where you take it can be the difference between responsible environmental practices or a total environmental disaster.

The truth is, not everybody handles end-of-life vehicles (ELV) and vehicles that have been in accidents the way they should.

The volume of salvage yards trying to extract the most value from an ELV by cutting environmental corners is a growing practice. The European Union set regulations in place 10 years ago to prevent vehicle dismantling and destruction from harming the environment whilst maximising the volume of each vehicle that is recycled. Currently 85% of the vehicle must be recycled; by 2015 salvage yards will have to recycle 95% of each vehicle.

Unfortunately, there are a number of salvage yards that do not abide by the EU regulations, and these yards are having a negative impact on the environment.

Licensed operators have spent a lot of money on premises and equipment to ensure that all the hazardous components of vehicle dismantling are handled correctly and in a way that does not harm the environment. These areas include tyres, batteries, oils, fuel, coolant, batteries, air conditioning gas etc. Any of these can pose a hazard to the environment, hence the need to treat each of them so carefully.

Once the vehicle has been fully de-polluted it is then recycled, either by going through shredding process, or by being dismantled and the parts removed and resold for use on other vehicles before the remainder of the vehicle is crushed and recycled fully.

There are a number of resources available to help you make the correct choice about who scraps your car, the Environment Agency web site has a full list of Authorised Treatment Facilities – those businesses that have put in the investment to achieve the standard required by the EU – see http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/business/regulation/65470.aspx
Or you could use one of the many national services available including Give A Car http://www.giveacar.co.uk/ who will scrap your car and make a donation to the charity of your choice, and Car Take Back (www.cartakeback.com).

You can make a world of difference by the choices you make when you scrap your vehicle.