What are the End of Life Vehicle regulations?
The End of Life Vehicle regulations apply to scrap cars and vans that have a gross vehicle weight of up to 3,500kg. (End of life vehicle is another name for what's normally known as a scrap car, junk car, breaker or salvage vehicle).
The regulations were designed to reduce the impact that scrap cars have on the environment. They were introduced in two parts.
The first set of regulations came into effect in 2003 and require scrap cars to be depolluted before destruction. This involves the removal of fluids, tyres, battery and hazardous materials, before any of the remaining parts or materials can be reused or recycled. Depollution can only be carried out at Authorised Treatment Facilities (ATFs) holding the appropriate environmental permit. The 2003 regulations also required ATFs to issue last owners with a Certificate of Destruction, through which scrapped vehicles are deregistered.
The second set of regulations came into effect in 2005 and mean that both producers (vehicle manufacturers and professional importers) must establish national networks of ATFs to provide “free take-back” of their “own marque” ELVs. For the vehicles dealt with by these networks until 2015, producers had to achieve 85% reuse, recycling and recovery targets, as did ATFs not forming part of a producer’s network. From 2015 onwards, that target has become 95% by weight of the vehicles.
View and download a copy of the 2003 End Of Life Vehicle regulations from the Gov.uk website
View and download a copy of the 2005 End Of Life Vehicle (Producer responsibility) regulations from the Gov.uk website 
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