Ford signs with Cartakeback to provide ELV network

Under the new ELV Regulations, which come into force on March 3, car manufacturers and importers (producers) are to take responsibility for recycling end of life vehicles (ELVs) of their own brand (see letsrecycle.com report).

Producers including the Ford Motor Company will have to provide enough authorised treatment facilities – or collection points – to provide last owners with a convenient free take back service.

A hotline and website will steer last owners to Cartakeback ATF sites like GW & G Bridges in Sussex (pictured above)

As well as last owners of Ford vehicles, those owning Jaguars, Land Rovers, Volvos, Aston Martins and Mazdas will be able to take their vehicles free of charge to dismantling companies that are part of the Cartakeback network.

Announcing the agreement with Cartakeback, the chairman of Ford Britain, Roger Putnam, said: “When the full network is established, a hotline number and dedicated website will advise last owners of the qualifying conditions for free take back and the location of the nearest facility where they can present their vehicle.”

Ford's brands sold over 487,000 new cars in the UK in 2004, while the company has over eight million vehicles currently in circulation – about one in four of the light vehicles on UK roads.

Cartakeback
Cartakeback Ltd is a subsidiary of the UK Shredders consortium, with members including Norton's in Liverpool. Working with Ford, the company will develop take back and treatment facilities throughout the UK.

The sites will all meet environmental protection standards under the ELV Regulations 2003, the company said. The first Ford-appointed site in the network is GW & G Bridges Ltd. of Crawley, Sussex. Other sites will be announced between now and August, Ford said.

Once the vehicles are taken to official Ford take back sites, they will then be recycled, and the manufacturer will be responsible for its network reaching the recycling targets of the European ELV Directive. This means that from 2007, 85% of vehicles by weight will be re-used or recovered, and at least 80% recycled.

A free seminar on the new ELV Regulations 2005 is being held on March 15th at the Stoneleigh Live recycling and waste exhibition near Coventry. For more details, click here.