Final demand for vehicle recycling figures

And, with data yet to be submitted, uncertainty is already emerging over whether or not the UK will meet its 2006 target under the European ELV Directive. This requires 85% of its waste vehicles to be reused, recycled or recovered but the figure has been described as “ambitious” by many in the sector.

This week, the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) sent a letter to businesses which have not reported on their performance. It warns that if they do not submit figures by the end of this week (Friday, October 12), they will face “enforcement action”. The official deadline for the figures was April 2007.

Under UK law, producers of vehicles are responsible for reusing, recycling and recovering energy from end of life vehicles (ELVs) – which they do through a network of contracted Authorised Treatment Facilities (ATFs).

In 2006 – the first year of the scheme – the facilities had to achieve their first targets to reuse and recover 85% of ELVs by weight, with at least 80% of the weight of ELVs being recycled. This would enable the UK to fulfil its requirements under the European ELV Directive.

Writing the reminder, Steve Norgrove, who is head of end of life vehicles at BERR, said: “I have no record of receiving such a report from your facility, and I am therefore writing one last time to seek your cooperation in providing to us details of the reuse, recovery and recycling rate achieved for the vehicles.

“You should respond by 12 October, 2007 at the latest. Our next step will be to look to enforcement action, and to this end we will be consulting the environmental agencies to establish whether non-reporting facilities have been actively treating vehicles over that period in question,” he continued.

Targets

On the ground, vehicle shredders and dismantlers have been reporting a mixed performance with regard to meeting the ELV recycling and recovery targets.

In January, ATF network providers Cartakeback and Autogreen said their contracted sites had met recycling and recovery targets for 2006 (see letsrecycle.com story).

However, other vehicles dismantlers and shredders have reported lower figures – which could reflect a wider trend.

For instance, the Motor Vehicle Dismantler's Association (MVDA) reported in its quarterly magazine that when the April 1 deadline came around, the majority of its members said they had only managed to achieve a recycling and recovery rate of 83% at best- just short of the target.

MVDA secretary Duncan Wemyss claimed this was because many independent metal merchants did not necessarily have access to facilities enabling them to recycle or recover energy from some elements of waste cars, such as those believed to be used by Cartakeback and Autogreen. He added that there was a lack of understanding as to what information the government actually wanted.

Writing in the article, the organisation said: “From members we have spoken to, the majority have not achieved the 85%. The average figure from the conversations of members that have sought the office's help is in the region of 82 to 85%.”

Headway

Although BERR would not give any indication as to whether the UK was likely to meet its target, it said that it had received ELV recycling and recovery reports from the “majority of obligated parties” – which include authorised treatment facilities and some vehicle manufacturers.

The UK now has until June 2008 to report the information to the European Commission, a time period which the department said reflected “the scale of the task”.

A BERR spokeswoman said: “The 18-month period allowed for member states to calculate and report their recovery performance reflects the scale of the task, particularly in this initial year, but we are making good headway in our assessment of the data received to date.”