Call for more post-shredder ELV recycling capacity

Duncan Wemyss, Secretary of the Motor Vehicle Dismantlers Association, told letsrecycle.com today that action needed to be taken to resolve a Europe-wide lack of capacity for separating materials such as glass and plastics after the shredding process.

“We need to resolve the capacity problem across Europe for handling, processing and separating glass, plastics etc from shredder residue and making it a high quality recyclable material,” he said, with the issue contributing to some smaller authorised treatment facilities (ATF) being unable to meet their 85% ELV recycling targets.

And he said that any decision by the Department for Business (BERR), to take action against any ATF that failed to reach the 85% recycling target in 2006 would be unjustified.

“Until everyone has got their system in place to support each other, it would be grossly unfair to take them to court when they've made a genuine effort to reach their targets and filed a report,” he explained, adding that the focus should be on scrap metal yards that continue to operate without being licensed.

It is thought that BERR will be reluctant to launch legal proceedings against smaller operators who have actively sought to register and achieve the 85% targets (see letsrecycle.com story), with Mr Wemyss agreeing that “I would be very surprised if BERR took that path”.

This comes despite a recent letter sent by Steve Norgrove, head of BERR's producer responsibility unit, to every ATF warning that 85% “is not an aspirational target, and to miss it is a criminal offence punishable by a fine. It has been clearly shown that the 85% target is achievable”.

As many as 960 of the UK's 1,200 ATFs are not contracted to one of the two service providers (Cartakeback and Autogreen) who have responsibility for ensuring vehicle manufacturers reach their own 85% recycling targets for ELVs.

Positive

National figures are expected to reveal a level of 83-84% was achieved by ATFs in 2006 and Mr Wemyss gave a positive assessment of the progress made by his association's members towards reaching the target.

“Things are getting better, that's for sure, and the target of 85% is challenging for anybody and the progress that the industry has made is commendable”

“Reaching 85% is achievable, but it does have its problems. You can reach 80% with metals – that's a given – and fuel, tyres etc, but that leaves 5%,” he added.

And, comparing the UK to mainland Europe, he explained that “we're no further behind others with a similar implementation of the regulations.” And, he pointed the advantages gained by countries such as Germany and Holland that find many of their potential ELVs end up being sent to Eastern Europe for further use.

Certificate

It has been argued that the UK's complicated record system for cars has hampered the gathering of evidence of ELV recycling, with it being possible to fill in part of a car owners' V5 form to mark the vehicle as scrapped without further checks.

However, Mr Wernyss remained positive that a mandatory system requiring certificates of destruction would be introduced.

“Things are moving in the right direction,” he explained. “Discussions are taking place at the DVLA and movement is being made.”

Autogreen

While some smaller operators have faced difficulties in recycling the non-metallic components of ELV, Mike Austin, the manager of service provider Autogreen, told letsrecycle.com that “we certainly haven't faced any difficulty in that ourselves”.

He explained that post shredding recycling on non-metallic materials takes place within the UK and Europe, adding that “we had already identified and made provision to meet 2007 targets using routes within the UK long before the reporting deadline”.

However, it is understood that Autogreen had to go out and secure evidence of non-metallic shredder residue as it had hoped primarily to reach the target through dismantling of vehicles.

Cartakeback

The UK's other service provider, Cartakeback, has launched a new certification scheme for all its contracted ATFs, meaning that all facilities that have successfully met their 85% recycling targets will be able to display a Recycling Compliance Seal on their website to indicate that they have met their obligations for the previous year.

Graham Price, the network's manager, said: “The certification scheme will allow any person or organisation which intends to dispose of a vehicle at the end of its life to make an informed decision about which company they choose.”