What Is An Authorised Treatment Facility?
28th Dec, 2017
At Scrap Car Network, all of our scrapyards are ATFs – we won’t partner with anyone else! But, we’re often asked, what is an ATF? Essentially, ATF stands for Authorised Treatment Facility. It’s a scrapyard or scrap car breaker that has been licensed by the Environment Agency, to ensure that it’s meeting standards of safety, quality, sustainability and acceptable business practices. ATFs are the only scrap car breakers that are authorised to operate in the UK, so it’s always worth checking if you’re dealing with one!
How Do Scrapyards Become Authorised Treatment Facilities?
It’s a sad fact of our industry that there are a certain number of unscrupulous scrap car dealers out there – a fact that the industry is continually working to clamp down on. The label of an ATF, however, is essentially a stamp of quality, helping you to tell the difference between the scrap car breakers you’ll want to deal with, versus the ones that you definitely want to steer clear of.
As part of the process of becoming an ATF, a scrap car dealer has to register with the Environment Agency, whose experts then carry out a full assessment of the scrapyard in question. They’ll make sure that it has facilities capable of handling hazardous material, solid business hygiene practices, and ensure that they’re not disposing of waste products and scrap cars in any way that risks harm to human or environmental health.
They’ll also ensure that the dealer isn’t making use of any dodgy business practices – for example, literally taking cash for your car. (Since the introduction of the Scrap Metal Dealers Act in 2013, taking cash for your car has been illegal – nowadays, all payments are made by BACS or bank transfer. We adhere to this very strictly at Scrap Car Network!)
Why Does This Matter?
It’s a point worth reiterating – ATFs are the only places that are legally allowed to scrap your car. Due to the fact that they’re continually monitored, when you use an ATF you can count on them for standards of decency, reliability, safety and quality. Plus, you know that pieces of your scrap car are getting disposed of responsibly, not fouling up the countryside. In short, you can trust an Authorised Treatment Facility.
As far as the government is concerned, tracking ATFs means that they can be certain that they’re meeting their sustainability targets, too. The DVLA only accepts Certificates of Destruction from ATFs – which means if they don’t get one, as far as they’re concerned the car is still yours. In turn, that means if it turns up back on the roads, it’s your door to which they’ll come a-knockin’!
But that’s the worst case scenario – you don’t have to worry about any of that when you choose Scrap Car Network. We’ll ensure that you get the best prices and that your vehicle is disposed of safely and professionally. What’s more, you get to do a little bit of good along the way by helping our social causes, too! What could be better?
It’s easy to get started – all you have to do is enter in your car reg and postcode into our website, and you’ll see your instant online quote…well, instantly!
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