Scrapheap challenge: The End of Live Vehicle directive puts the onus on the original makers to recover and recycle the materials contained in their vehicles. And there is a particular challenge for the suppliers of equipment for interiors

摘要

From the start of this year, vehicle makers in the European Union have become responsible for the eventual fate of their vehicles. The End of Life Vehicle (ELV) directive, adopted six years ago, puts the onus on the manufacturers to recover, recycle and reuse the material in their vehicles. The ELV directive is being phased in. By the start of 2006, the vehicle makers should have arrangements in place to handle scrap vehicles, and over the past year there have been many contracts between, OEMs and specialist waste handling contractors. The full ELV is meant to happen next year, with high phase one targets for reuse and recycling of materials that will, in 2015, get even higher when the next phase comes in. In phase one, from 2007, the EU states have agreed to recover 85 per cent by weight of the material in end-of-life vehicles, and to recycle 80 per cent. In 2015, recovery rises to 95 per cent and recycling to 85 per cent.