A report from the Environment Agency estimated that once new de-pollution standards were introduced under the ELV Directive, the cost of treating a vehicle would rise by up to 40 per vehicle. However, the LGA has said that it believes the additional costs would be double that figure.
These costs, combined with the reduction in the number of legal ELV disposal facilities due to the more stringent standards brought in by the ELV Directive, is expected to lead to a vast increase in the numbers of illegally dumped vehicles.
Drawing on a new survey of LGA advisers, a document for this week's meeting of the LGA waste executive said: “Based on anticipated increases in numbers of abandoned vehicles after the Directive, additional costs to local authorities could be up to 126 million per year.”
The document went on to suggest that if additional powers were handed to councils to remove vehicles more quickly with the last registered owners given the financial liability, those costs would drop to between 35 million and 80 million.
Patricia Hewitt, Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, told the House of Commons back in July that the Department of Trade and Industry would assist local authorities if they incurred additional costs from the ELV Directive (see letsrecycle.com story). However, the DTI is yet to announce any extra funds for ELV disposal.
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