Sub-Committee B has been holding this item under scrutiny since 20 February 2007. We last wrote to your predecessor, Jim Fitzpatrick MP, regarding this item on 28 February 2007.[30] We asked to be kept informed of the findings of the Stakeholder Working Group as well as the analysis of all available options. We have not yet received any further information and would apprecicate an udpate on developments.

13 November 2007

  Thank you for your letter of 13 November 2007 to Pat McFadden, asking for an update on developments in respect of the 2015 end-of-life vehicles recovery target in the ELV Directive.

Your earlier letter of 28 February 2007 to Jim Fitzpatirck expressed concern about the achievability of the 2015 target set down in the Directive and confirmed in the Commission's report, given that its composition—95% recovery of the tonnage of ELVs, divided into a minimum of 85% reuse and recycling, and a maximum of 10% energy recovery—had been determined before evidence as available to assess performance against the earlier target in the Directive of 85% target (minimum 80% reuse/recycling; maximum 5% energy recovery).

  The Department is nearing the end of its calculation of the UK's performance against the 2006 recovery target in the Directive. Declarations of performance received from parties obligated under the ELV (Producer Responsibility) Regulations 2005, namely vehicle manufacturers and independent Authorised Treatment Facilities, are currently being audited. Although still too early to arrive at a final figure, our assessment shows that the UK has bettered its estimated 2005 performance of 81%. Under the terms of the ELV Directive, Member States have until June this year to report 2006 performance to the European Commission.

  It has become clear during our assessment of these returns that only a very limited amount of material is being sent for energy recovery. The vast majority is being reused, in the form of spare parts, or recycled, as secondary raw materials. In the light of this data, and recent intelligence that ELV metal shredding companies are developing post-shredder residue separation technologies, we believe at the moment, while reserving final judgment, that the structure of the 2015 target, which the Commission has recommended should not be changed, may not present the difficultes out earlier examination suggested. Consultation on the Commission's recommendation with interested business organisations in UK has not resulted in a consensus, with several arguing that proper consideration of the issue could not be given until 2006 performance was clear.

  I will write to you again with a further update when our 2006 data is complete.

28 January 2008

  Thank you for your letter dated 28 January 2008 on this subject. Sub-Committee B considered it at its meeting of 4 February. The Committee took note of the update and agreed to continue to hold the dossier under scrutiny until more complete figures are available.

The Committee would also appreicate some further information on the proposed targets:

— Roughly how many end-of-life vehicles are included in this target and has this number changed since the 2006 targets were agreed?

— What is the breakdown of what is considered as resuse? Does this include the shipping of vehicles outside of the EU, and if so what measures are taken to ensure that such vehicles are appropriately dealt with?

— What measures are being taken to ensure that abandoned vehicles are recovered? What statistics are available relating to this?

5 February 2008

  Thank you for your letter of 5 February on this subject. I am happy to provide the further information you have requested. For convenience, I repeat the detail of your questions.

ROUGHLY HOW MANY ELVS ARE INCLUDED IN THIS TARGET AND HAS THE NUMBER CHANGED SINCE THE 2006 TARGETS WERE AGREED?

  The Addendum to the Commission's report contains the estimate that 13.8 million vehicles will be scrapped in the EU in 2015. The report's estimate for 2006 is 11.1 million vehicles. The Explantory Memorandum which accompanied publication of the proposed ELV Directive in 1997 contained an estimate of between 8 and 9 million ELVs per annum in the EU-15, and simply expressed the view that this number would increase in future years. At that time, the DTI's Preliminary Compliance Cost Assessment estimated 1.5 million ELVs for both 2006 and 2015 in the UK. The DTI's Regulatory Impact Assessment, produced for a revised text of the Directive in 1999, put the UK figure at 1.7 million vehicles per annum.

WHAT IS THE BREAKDOWN OF WHAT IS CONSIDERED RE -USE? DOES THIS INCLUDE SHIPPING OF VEHICLES OUTSIDE THE EU, AND IF SO WHAT MEASURES ARE TAKEN TO ENSURE THAT SUCH VEHICLES ARE APPROPRIATELY DEALT WITH?

  This term is defined in the ELV Directive as meaning "any operation by which components of ELVs are used for the same purpose for which they were conceived". It follows that re-use is subsequent to the dismantling process, with components being removed from the ELVs at Authorised Treatment Facilities and sold as spare parts. Under the terms of the Directive, ELVs may only be treated by Authorised Treatment Facilites. However, Commission Decision 2005/293/EC, laying down the detailed rules on the monitoring of reuse/recovery and reuse/recycling targets set out in the Directive, contains the following recital:

"As a consequence of the internal market, Member States may export the ELVs generated on their territory to other countries for further treatment. In order to minimise allocation problems and to avoid extensive monitoring and calculation efforts, the recovery and recycling rates from exported vehicle parts will be credited to the exporting Member States."

  The movement of undepolluted end-of-life vehicles overseas would be subject to the Transfrontier Shipments of Waste legislation. We are not aware of any ELVs being moved legally out of the UK in undepolluted form, as hazardous waste There is, however, some overseas trade in dismantled vehicle spare parts, and these are counted towards UK ELV recovery performance.

WHAT MEASURES ARE BEING TAKEN TO ENSURE THAT ABANDONED VEHICLES ARE RECOVERED? WHAT STATISTICS ARE AVAILABLE RELATING TO THIS?

  The Commission's report makes no mention of abandoned vehicles. In the UK, numbers have reduced significantly in recent years, due to a number of measures which the Government have taken, including the introduction of an entitlement to convenient "free take-back", as required by the Directive, and various campaigns to make abandonment more difficult, or to nip it in the bud (for example, the clamping of untaxed vehicles). A combination of these factors and the prevailing high value of scrap metal has resulted in a reduction in the number of recorded abandoned vehicles in England from a high of 290,000 in 2002/03 to 81,000 in 2006/7.

10 March 2008

  Thank you for your letter of 10 March 2008. It was considered by Sub-Committee B at its meeting of 31 March. The Committee agreed to keep the dossier under scrutiny until it is clear that the UK has been able to meet its 2006 targets.

1 April 2008