BMW UK to Provide End-of-Life Recycling for all BMW Vehicles

14 October 2005

Beginning 1 January 2006, all UK owners of BMW, Rolls-Royce and MINI vehicles will be entitled to free take-back of their car once it has reached the end of its serviceable life.

Operated by Autogreen, the BMW Vehicle Recycling Network will collect vehicles regardless of where they were bought, the age of the vehicle or whether they have been serviced outside of the BMW and MINI dealer networks. The process ensures that 85% of the vehicle by weight will be recovered and recycled.

The European Union has established End-of-Life vehicle (ELV) regulations and targets that specify, among other things:

• Free take-back

• Increase the rate of re-use and recovery to 85% by average weight per vehicle and year by 2006

• Increase the rate of re-use and recovery to 95% by 2015

BMW UK, in other words, is complying with the ELV specifications.

On accepting the vehicle the site will issue a certificate of destruction. This proves that the vehicle has been destroyed and automatically deregisters the vehicle, releasing the owner from any further tax obligations.

The next stage is the triggering of all pyrotechnics (airbags and seatbelt pre-tensioners), removal of batteries, siphoning of air-conditioning systems and draining of operating fluids.

Many sites within the network will then go on to selectively dismantle vehicles, identifying and removing usable parts for resale.

Finally, the remainder of the vehicle will be sent through a shredding process to recover those parts of a car that are made of recyclable materials. It is at this stage that all the metallic elements, e.g. steel, copper, aluminium, magnesium and other materials, including some plastics, will be separated for reuse within manufacturing. Lightweight materials such as aluminium and magnesium can be recycled at a fraction of the energy cost needed to produce the product from new.

Resources:

• EU End of Life Vehicles