The United Kingdom has for quite some time now been covered by the EU’s End of Life Vehicles (ELV) Directive. In the simplest of terms, this means that when motor vehicles up to a maximum of 3.5-tonnes in weight are taken out of use, it is a legal requirement for them to be appropriately disposed of in an environmentally friendly manner. What’s more, the directive also states that the respective vehicles’ manufacturers are required to pay for the process. The owners of the cars themselves do not receive any form of payment or compensation, but they do not have to pay for the cars to be disposed of. 
But while the scheme has proved to be extraordinarily useful and beneficial up and down the country, thousands of motorists have found themselves facing a rather difficult scenario. In instances where the brand that manufactured their vehicle is no longer in business and doesn’t have a parent company, they find themselves in ownership of an ‘orphan vehicle’ that no specific manufacturer wants to take responsibility for. Not all areas of the country are covered by fair and responsible vehicle recycling services like Take My Scrap Car, which in the case of orphan vehicle owners has often led to there being little choice other than to go to great difficulties to dispose of vehicles responsibly and perhaps pay for the privilege.
However, venue schema recently launched by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) in conjunction with Autogreen could put a stop to all this once and for all. Autogreen has agreed to begin taking orphan cars away for recycling on a national basis without any charge whatsoever to their respective owners. The initiative was launched in response to revised ELV recycling targets which have been increased to a lofty 95% as of 2015. Research suggests that there are somewhere in the region of 700,000 orphan vehicles still out and about in the United Kingdom, which for the sake of both the environment and general health and safety really could do with being taken off the roads as soon as possible.
“This new partnership is further evidence of just how seriously UK vehicle manufacturers take their environmental responsibilities,” said SMMT chief executive, Mike Hawes.
“The industry has a strong record, not just on recycling, but on emissions, energy and water usage reduction as a result of huge investments into innovative technologies, production processes and facilities,”
“Thanks to this latest initiative, every motorist in Britain can now be assured that when their vehicle reaches the end of its life it will be disposed of in a way that is not just ecologically sound, but cost-free – no matter where they live.”
Here at Take My Scrap Car, we’re firm believers that simply by making it as easy as possible to do the right thing with end of life vehicles, the entire population of the UK would inherently be willing to do exactly that. It’s simply a case of ensuring that the public doesn’t have to bend over backwards to do what’s right – certainly guaranteeing that they never have to pay to fulfill their environmental obligations.
