End of Life Vehicles Recycling

End of Life Vehicles Recycling

The number of vehicles in use in the UK has risen steadily over recent decades up to an estimated 32 million in 2003/2004.

Just over 2 million vehicles are discarded annually which, at an average weight of one tonne each, results in 2 million tonnes of waste. End of Life Vehicles have the potential to release hazardous substances into the environment if they are not treated, recycled or disposed of properly. As a result of concerns about the environmental and economic impacts of waste vehicles, the European Union adopted the End of Life Vehicles (ELV) Directive, which initially came into force on 21st October 2000.

End of Life Vehicles Recycling

Just over 2 million vehicles are discarded annually which, at an average weight of one tonne each, results in 2 million tonnes of waste. End of Life Vehicles have the potential to release hazardous substances into the environment if they are not treated, recycled or disposed of properly. As a result of concerns about the environmental and economic impacts of waste vehicles, the European Union adopted the End of Life Vehicles (ELV) Directive, which initially came into force on 21st October 2000.

End of Life Vehicles Recycling

What is the Aim of the ELV Directive?
Late 2003 saw the introduction of the first UK ELV regulations by the DTI. Design standards were imposed for the manufacturers of vehicles, and environmental standards were implemented for the dismantling, recycling and disposal of ELV’s by authorised treatment facilities (ATF’s).

End of Life Vehicles Recycling –

February 2005 heralded the next stage of the regulations for ELV’s. This action was aimed at manufacturers and meant that they would have to set up networks of authorised treatment facilities geared to process their own particular vehicle brands at no cost to the last user of the vehicle. This ruling applies from 2007.

At present, approximately 75% of an end-of-life vehicle is recovered (by weight) via the conventional scrap metal recycling process. However, the recycling and recovery targets set by the ELV Directive are far more stringent, aiming for 85% by January 2006 and 95% by January 2015 – and these targets will only be achieved through the increased recycling, recovery and re-use of a vehicle’s components (in other words, by fully de-polluting each vehicle before scrapping it).

End of Life Vehicles Recycling – Depollution:

Vehicle de-pollution is a relatively newly developed treatment process that all end-of-life vehicles must undergo if they are to achieve the required levels of materials recycling and recovery stipulated by the ELV Directive.
The process basically involves two main functions:

1. The recovery of all positive components and fluids that may be recycled and re-used (e.g. fuels, oils, coolants, ferrous and non-ferrous metal components, etc).

2. The removal of all the negative elements of a vehicle that are potentially harmful to the environment (e.g. tyres, mercury switches, airbags, etc).