USE FOR OLD CARS (Diana Wallis MEP)

Diana Wallis MEP <info@dianawallismep.org.uk>

USE FOR OLD CARS

April 15, 2005 9:46 AM

A good use is to be found for old cars after Euro-MPs meeting in Strasbourg agreed plans to deal with the nine million vehicles that reach the end of the road In Europe each year.

Car manufacturers and importers have been told that they must ensure that the vehicles they put on the market can be almost completely recycled. The European Parliament has set an 85% target that will apply to all new vehicles put on the market 54 months after the EU law comes into force.

The agreement confirms detailed arrangements for the application of the EU's End-of-Life Vehicles Directive, which already requires pollutants such as oil and brake fluids to be removed from cars sent for scrap and which from January 2007 will require manufacturers to offer a free takeback service for old bangers.

Liberal Democrat MEP Diana Wallis says that the new law shows the EU working at its best:

"This is an excellent measure which sets high recycling standards. These are good for the environment. The measure requires manufacturers to take responsibility for the products they make and encourages them to design cars that can be easily recycled. As it applies both to importers and to the entire European car industry no one EU country can attack another by setting lower standards.

"The new recycling requirements will be good for consumers, good for the environment, and good for industry."

Car manufacturers claimed five years ago that the new law would bankrupt their industry, but the rise in steel prices means that they are now set to break even or make a profit out of car recycling.

Earlier this year the Ford Motor Company became the first in Britain to announce that it had made arrangements to provide a free take back service within two years. It says that the cost will represent only a 'token outlay' towards a business that will be largely self-financing.