End of Life Vehicle Directive

Details

The European Union drew up the End of Life Vehicles (ELVs) Directive in September 2000 and came into effect on the 3rd November 2003. It sets recycling targets of 85% of all ELVs by weight by January 2006 and 95% by January 2015.

The EC Directive of End-of-Life vehicles (ELVs) aims to reduce or prevent the amount of waste produced from ELVs and increase the recovery and recycling of ELVs that arise.

The Directive also states that owners of vehicles first put on the market on or after 1 July 2002 must be able to have their complete ELVs accepted by collection systems free of charge, regardless of value. The Directive also restricts the use of certain heavy metals and requires components to be marked to aid recovery.

The ELV Directive also states that from 1 January 2007, owners must be able to have any ELVs accepted at authorised treatment facilities free of charge, whatever date they were first put on the market.

Nine million tonnes of ELVs arise in Europe each year. The UK disposes of approximately 2 million tonnes of ELVs each year.

Timetable

The End of Life Vehicles (ELV) Directive came into force on 21 October 2000. Member States should have transposed the Directive into national law by 21 April 2002, however, the UK missed this deadline.

On 7th March 2003, the Government issued its second consultation on implementation of parts of the ELV Directive. These initial regulations include definition of terms, system design and information requirements, Certificate of Destruction, take back of vehicles, storage, treatment of hazardous waste, facilities requirements, exemptions, other technical requirements and offences, penalties and charges.

Further consultations covering other aspects of the EU Directive, including arrangements for achieving the 2006 recycling / recovery targets, and for free take back of ELVs with a negative value from 2007, will follow in due course.

The latest information and consultation document can be found on the DTI website.