The UK could be further behind meeting European End-of-Life vehicle recycling targets than previously thought, after the government revised ELV recovery guidance relating to residual fuels in December.
Last month the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) took steps to remove a weight allowance it had originally set in its ELV recovery guidelines. This allowed 1% of the total weight of an ELV to be automatically classed as recovered, as this was thought to be the weight of left over residual fuel in an average vehicle which would be collected for use or reprocessing.
Changes
Last month BISwrote tooperators of Approved Treatment Facilities for ELVsto inform themthat as of 2012, residual fuel would not be counted toward recovery targets any longer, in order to bring the UK in line with other EU member states.
In the letter to ATF operators, BIS said: Since the introduction of the End of Life Vehicles Regulations, the UK has included an automatic 1% allowance for residual fuel in addition to the 75% metallic content protocol. Following discussions with the European Commission and other member states it has now become clear that the target calculation, which follows a format laid down by the European Commission, must be based on a weight that excludes all fuel content. As a result, we will no longer be able to consider the weight of residual fuel as a factor in the calculation of reporting targets; therefore a residual fuel allowance will not feature in the reporting table for the calculation of the 2012 targets or future years.
The EU has never counted residual fuel toward ELV recovery targets, but BIS has included the measure in its reporting guidance since End of Life Vehicle Regulations were introduced. The revelation would suggest that the UK is further behind schedule to meet European Commission ELV recovery figures than previously feared. So far, the UK has not met the 85% recycling target set in 2006, which is set to rise again in 2015 to 95%.
Targets
Figures published earlier this year by BIS suggested that the ELV recovery rate had fallen from 84.98% in 2008 to 84.69% in 2009 (see letsrecycle.com story). However, according to calculations published by the European Commission, the UKs recovery and reuse performance for ELVs was 84% in 2008 and 83.54% for 2009, up to 1% less than reported domestically by BIS due largely to the departments inclusion of the residual fuel 1%.
| Year | BIS | EC |
|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 83.53% | 82.29% |
| 2007 | 84.23% | 83.08% |
| 2008 | 84.98% | 84% |
| 2009 | 84.69% | 83.54% |
A BIS spokesperson said: Following legal advice, the government is adjusting the way that the percentage of waste produced by End of Life Vehicles is calculated. These changes will mean that the way the UK calculates its figures in this respect is in line with other member states and follows discussions with them and the European Commission.
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ATF operators were also informed that recovery figures for 2011, which are due for submission by July this year, would still include the 1% residual fuel allowance, although this would only count toward domestic recovery performance.
The performance statistics for the recycling and recovery of ELVs in 2010 are due to be released later this year.
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