There are many laws in place to minimise the impact scrap cars can have on the environment.

• Firstly, any business handling scrap cars should have a treatment facility permit.
• Every scrap car must go through a de-pollution process to remove any harmful materials.
• Then, as much of the car as possible needs to be recycled in order to hit the recycling target.

The recycling target was originally set by the EU back in 2005 at 85% – a significant 10% increase on what was being recycled at that time. This was later boosted to 95% for cars recycled during 2015.

In the UK alone, many hundred of scrap cars are recycled every day and their car parts shipped to countries such as India and Africa, where they are used to repair the cars of people on lower-income than the UK average.

FACTS ACCORDING TO WIKIPEDIA

Did you know?

• “The typical passenger car consists of about 65 percent steel and iron, by weight. Also, car bodies typically are made 25 percent of recycled steel.”
• “Every year, over 25 million tons of materials are recycled from old vehicles.”
• “In the U.S, nearly 12 million cars are recycled. This number makes cars the most recycled item in the country.”
• “Approximately 10 million vehicles are recycled annually.”
• “Every year, around 27 million cars that reach the end of their useful life from around the world are recovered for recycling.”