A network of authorised treatment facilities (ATFs) has now been established across Northern Ireland to deal with scrap vehicles that come under the End of Life Vehicles (ELV) Directive 2000/53/EC. The Directive aims to reduce or prevent the amount of waste produced and increase the recovery and recycling of ELVs. It also requires that ELVs can only be treated at permitted sites, and over the past year a total of ten such facilities have been licensed to help the Government meet their European targets. There are now ATFs in Counties Fermanagh, Antrim, Londonderry, Armagh, Tyrone and Belfast, with the promise of more to follow. The Environment and Heritage Service (EHS) say this is now an "adequate" network to deal with ELVs, and the next step is to intensify enforcement of the Directive by targeting the unregulated sector of vehicle breakers and scrap merchants.
ELVs that have not been de-polluted are treated as hazardous waste, and have the potential to release harmful substances into the environment. It is an offence if anyone does not dispose of their ELV in the correct manner, however to date, there have been few actual prosecutions. It is thought that between 70,000 and 100,000 vehicles reach their end-of-life in Northern Ireland every year.
