Wrong to blame abandoned vehicle increases on ELV Directive

The latest figures on abandoned vehicles – covering the period 2001-02 – have just been released, showing an increase of 27% from the year before to 293,000.

The new abandoned vehicle figures, revealed as the provisional Local Government Finance Settlement was announced, show that the cost to local authorities of dealing with abandoned vehicles rose from 11.5m to 14.6m in 2001-02.

But although new regulations are bringing in tougher environmental standards and licensing requirements for ELV treatment facilities, Steve Franklin of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders said it would be wrong to portion blame for abandoned vehicle increases to the new requirements.

Mr Franklin, who is also secretary of the cross-sector ACORD group, said: “Abandoned vehicles are caused by the weak registration system we have in the UK – the huge number of vehicles that are being used without being taxed or for criminal purposes. But that is now changing. The increase in abandoned vehicles will not necessarily be because of the ELV Directive, but of the tightening of the UK registration system. The increase will come from those vehicles being used illegally re-emerging.”

Speaking as part of the letsrecycle.com conference, Vehicle Recycling: Decision Time, Mr Franklin suggested that the expected increase in abandoned vehicles next year would only be a problem in the short term. As the new system of Authorised Treatment Facilities is brought in by manufacturers under the terms of the European ELV Directive, the number of abandoned vehicles would drop in the long term.

Tim Troon, who was formerly head of the London Borough of Camden's abandoned vehicles unit said that the ELV Directive would affect abandoned vehicles “slightly”, but the more important issue was the price of scrap. If scrap values remain high, he said, there would not be a problem, but if world prices sank, the UK would be facing a real crisis. Julian Lucraft, a delegate from West Sussex county council suggested that there should be a subsidy on the scrap steel price to counter the risk.

ATFs
Also speaking at the conference, Alan Greenouff, chairman of the British Vehicle Salvage Federation, said that minimum costs faced by dismantlers who wanted to become ATFs would be between 50,000 and 100,000, depending on the size and throughput of the sites. With difficulties in securing planning permission and waste management licenses as well, many businesses could find themselves restricted to selling parts.

While supporting the proposed “Own Marque” system for introducing producer responsibility on ELVs, dismantlers such as Charles Ambrose of Poole-based Charles Trent Ltd warned that the new regulations would only work if they were enforced properly, creating a level playing field for legitimate businesses.

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