End of Life Vehicles
BIS is the lead Government Department for policy relating to end of life vehicles (ELVs) and their disposal. The UK Regulations affect the way that certain types of vehicles are designed and how they are treated when they become waste.
Overview
The EC ELV Directive (2000/53/EC) aims to reduce the amount of waste from cars and light goods vehicles when they are scrapped. In particular it:
- includes tightened environmental standards for vehicle treatment sites
- requires that last owners must be able to dispose of their vehicles free of charge
- sets rising reuse, recycling and recovery targets
- restricts the use of hazardous substances in both new vehicles and replacement vehicle parts
The UK has transposed the Directive through its ELV Regulations 2003, 2005 and 2010. The 2003 Regulations put in place most of the requirements of the Directive, including the improved standards for vehicle treatment sites (enforced by the relevant environment agency), some new technical standards that apply to new vehicles (enforced by the Vehicle Certification Agency) and the establishment of a Certificate of Destruction (CoD) system (administered by the DVLA).
The remaining provisions of the Directive were the subject of the 2005 Regulations which set out the requirements for vehicle producers to have available networks of facilities where last owners of their brands of vehicles may take them for treatment and recycling at the end of their lives (enforced by BIS). These facilities are required to provide this service free of charge to the last owner (provided vehicles are largely complete and have not had extra waste added).
The two sets of 2010 Regulations make some amendments to the 2003 and 2005 Regulations.
Am I affected?
The ELV Regulations place legal obligations on:
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Producers of cars and/or light goods vehicles under European Whole Vehicle Type Approval categories M1 and N1 (i.e. manufacturers and professional importers of these types of vehicle)
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Producers of replacement components for such vehicles
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Facilities that treat end of life vehicles and materials/components from them (including vehicles not in the categories mentioned above). The requirements apply to all businesses irrespective of size. There are no exemptions for small and medium sized companies. However, there are some differences in the vehicle producers’ obligations depending on the quantity of vehicles that a business places on the market. The Regulations also have some impact upon last owners of vehicles and local authorities (when they deal with abandoned vehicles).
Guidance
Consumer information
General advice on vehicle ownership, including disposing of vehicles, is available at Directgov. This explains the importance of using an Authorised Treatment Facility (ATF) to dispose of your vehicle and issue you with a Certificate of Destruction (CoD) which shows that the vehicle has been correctly dealt with and that you are no longer responsible for it.
Latest developments
Contact us
elvregistration@bis.gsi.gov.uk
