The ELV Process In Ireland

As Ireland is part of the EU and follows the same directives, the process is pretty much similar to that of the UK. Conforms to (SI No 281 of 2014) 30th July 2014.

the flag of Ireland

End of Life Vehicles are typical those that are seen to have come to the end of their usefulness, suggested by their age. The typical age is normally around 12 to 14 years, but many would argue it is more about the actual value and desirability of the vehicle. Of course those involved ina Road Traffic Accident could occur at any age, the decision to take the vehicle off the road is than based on the cost to repair by the insurance company involved.

There are registered treatment facilities (RTF's) that legally dispose and recycle these ELV’s and have specific targets to hit, sometimes over 65% of the vehicle has to be recycled in some form.

However, there can be a process before this and this tends to be breaker yards, where a vehicle is stripped of its useful parts, which are then sold on. Then these breaker yards submit the remainder of the vehicle to a specialised treatment centre, to be recycled legally and free. The difference is, if a vehicle is handed into a “Takeback centre”, or “Authorised Treatment Facility” (ATF) no money will change hands, if it sold to a breaker yard, some of money often is offered in return for the valuable parts within. In this instance you will not get a certificate of destruction. You are merely selling your vehicle to a trader who will in turn get that certificate when, all valuable items are sold.

These can consist of manufacture specific treatment centres such as Honda or Nissan, or maybe independent businesses.

Irish End of Life Treatment Centres, have to follow a strict code and should they fail to adhere to them, severe fines can be administrated to the business. Even a custodial sentence can be offered, if the offence is serious enough.

Just like selling a vehicle, ensuring the right documentation is completed is essential, either to get your destruction certificate, or to change ownership.

some more information here

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

This is an organisation that collects data on ELV’s within Ireland and published them to see how statistics relate to the target set by the EU and Ireland.

Data published in 2016 relating to from 2013 showed that there was a risk that targets would not be met for 2015. The “Producer Responsibility Initiative” where the specific brand of the vehicle ha a responsibility for its own ELV, had to be reviewed in to ensure KPIs were in place by 2016.

More information about EPA and PRI’s here https://www.epa.ie/pubs/reports/waste/stats/elvstatisticsforireland/EPA_ELV_2013_data_release_web.pdf