Related links: letsrecycle.com guide to the ELV Directive

February 2005: The government has now completed the major work implementating the European End of Life Vehicles Directive in to UK law, writes James Cartledge.

Coming into force on March 3, 2005, the ELV (Producer Responsibility) Regulations 2005 makes manufacturers and importers responsible for the collection and recycling of vehicles they place on the market.

The "Own Marque" system of producer responsibility has been designed by the Department of Trade and Industry to reflect ministers' wishes for a light touch approach for implementing the ELV Directive.

The full details for how the regulations will operate will be laid out in guidance notes due prior to the ELV (Producer Responsibility) Regulations 2005 coming into force on March 3, 2005.

Now the regulations are in place, the timetable for ELV producer responsibility will be as follows:

The system is designed to give vehicle producers a reasonable chance of being able to control the cost of their obligations. But, in making them responsible for the end of their vehicles' lives, the DTI believes it will encourage them to design their vehicles in such a way as to make them more easily dismantled and recycled.

Responsibility
The first requirement under the new regulations will be for producers to declare their responsibility for their own branded vehicles. They are to declare their responsibility by the end of April 2005, and may do so in one of three ways:

1. Declaring their responsibility for a brand (e.g. Ford, Nissan, Renault etc.)
2. Declaring their responsibility for a brand plus certain Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) specifications (e.g. European, Japanese).
3. Declaring their responsibility by individual VIN numbers.

The third option is to declare responsibility for individual vehicles, providing all individual VIN numbers. There is the possibility that if large numbers of vehicles are declared through this option, the administration of the system could be "swamped", so it is hoped only importers will take up this option in respect of grey imports (second hand vehicles from outside the EU).

The DTI believes the Own Marque system will encourage producers to design their vehicles to make them more easily dismantled and recycled. Once producers have declared their brand responsibilities, they will not have to declare them again, unless their companies have acquired other brands. New entrants into the marketplace will be able to declare their responsibilities when they begin placing vehicles on the market.

Orphans
If there is a vehicle brand that no-one declares responsibility for - if the company behind it, such as the Yugo, has gone out of business, for example - the DTI can ascribe that brand to another producer's responsibility. This would be to a company with links to the "orphan" brand, such as a previous owner of that brand.

If the DTI cannot see grounds to make any particular producer responsible for an orphan brand, the Department's Secretary of State has the power to enter into agreements with the producers collectively to take responsibility.

It is thought that this would mean entering into agreements with trade associations such as the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). Rather than making certain members responsible for the orphan brand, this would most likely mean members accepting vehicles of the orphan brand at their sites as though the orphans were of their own brand.

Experts believe the orphan problem is likely to be comparatively small, about 50,000 vehicles out of the 2.2 million vehicles arising each year (2003 estimates). And, this figure would drop anyway over the years as the orphan brands slowly die out.

Networks
By the end of August 2005, producers must submit their proposals for collection networks to the government for approval. These networks must demonstrate two things - sufficient capacity and convenience for last owners.

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