Grand Plans For Grand Causes: India’s Car Scrapping Initiatives
13th Jan, 2017
In recent months India has been making its mark on the world stage, with its continuing efforts to become a greener, more environmentally friendly nation. Those are ideals that we can get on board with at Scrap Car Network. Recently, the Indian government has announced its plans to remove millions of old or unsafe cars from its streets. So what do these plans entail, and how are they going to work?
What Are They Doing about scrap cars in India?
India’s car scrapping policy is an ambitious initiative, and not one the government has undertaken lightly. In November of 2016, the worst smog in decades choked the capital city of New Delhi, with the air becoming polluted with tiny particles that made it 40 times over safety limits. Though there were a number of factors, a large cause of this has been traced down to the millions of old vehicles that are scattered around India; the old cars, trucks, motorcycles and buses that are all a major source of pollution. That’s why the Indian government is taking decisive action to tackle this problem at the roots.
Though it hasn’t yet been finalised, the government intends to enact new legislation that places the responsibility on vehicle manufacturers to buy back their vehicles after they exceed their designated lifespans (generally around fifteen years). The new rules mean that the onus will be on the manufacturer to makes sure that scrap cars are correctly disposed of once they hit this mark.
Currently, the lack of formal infrastructure in place makes it difficult to effectively recycle scrap cars. This in turn means that private scrapyards have a monopoly on the market, taking advantage of the lack of oversight and regulation to maximise their own profits. The government hopes the new initiative will restore a sense of order to India’s scrap car market, as well as ending the practice of privately reselling them in smaller towns and rural areas. This will cut down on the amount of unregistered cars on the market, thereby increasing the safety and collective fuel efficiency of those already in circulation.
What we’re doing with scrap cars in the UK
In the UK, our equivalent is the ELV (End-of-Life Vehicle) directive, which works in a similar way by placing the responsibility for ensuring correct disposal with the manufacturer. Introduced in Europe in 2000, it entered into UK law in 2005. The change meant that instead of drivers having to pay for car scrapping services, the infrastructure would be in place that allowed them to do it for free, and even profit from it (which is a huge part of what we do at Scrap Car Network). Companies like Toyota, Volkswagen and BMW have stations like this scattered across Europe. Meanwhile, the Environment Agency maintains a register of Authorised Treatment Facilities in order to ensure the professional standards of licensed scrap car dealers.
For the past few years the United Kingdom has held steady at around 1 million of these vehicles, whereas in 2015 India was registered to have 8.7 million. The sheer scale of the task that the Indian government have in front of them isn’t to be underestimated. Key concerns at the moment include possibly low levels of manufacturer trust amongst India’s general population. Industry experts have predicted that there will need to be tangible common incentives for drivers in order for the scheme to succeed on the same level that it has in the European Union.
At Scrap Car Network, we take enormous pride in our work and our brand. All of our facilities are Authorised Treatment Facilities, meaning that you can trust us to be competent, safe and efficient when it comes to scrapping your car. Check out other reasons to choose us, or simply say scrap my car and enter your postcode and car registration onto our website to get an instant quote now!
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