European Group of Automotive Recycling Associations (EGARA) General Secretary, HenkJan Nix, tells us why it’s important for everyone to voice their opinions through the recently opened ELV Directive public consultation.
‘Some time ago we pointed out that it’s important to make ourselves heard to the officials of the various governments. We talk about local government, national government, European Commission and all kinds of stakeholders. Since 6th August we’ve had a big opportunity that we should grab.
The EC announced that they opened an open internet consultation about the ELV Directive from 6th August to 29th October. This is our chance to have an influence on the weak spots of the Directive.
The Directive is implemented differently in every country, so it’s important to participate yourself. Both weak points in the Directive itself, as well as wrong implementation are important to mention. There are a lot of open fields in the consultation, so all your points can be described and explained. Both descriptions of problems and suggestions for solutions are welcome.
We discussed many times the weak points of the Directive itself (implementation in national legislation, dependent on other directives for registration systems, no clear description of recovery/recycling definitions). We also mentioned the implementation issues (import/export, registration, grey zone, CoD’s at places other than dismantling, home storage of ELV’s (DIY), costs of transportation, costs of recycling, wrong responsibilities (recycling chain), reporting, recyclability, parts info, etc). We should speak out now. This is our chance and we are the ones that know best how the Directive is taking care of abandoned vehicles, missing vehicles, recycling and reporting. The EC needs our knowledge and it’s in our own interest to inform them well.
We hope everybody will take some time to think critically about his/her position as a dismantler in the European playing field. For further information from EGARA, visit www.egaranet.org
We hope everybody will take this opportunity to contribute to this public consultation.’
The consultation can be found at www.ec.europa.eu.
The whole project can be found here where you can also view the contributions on the feedback.
