Plan to recycle end-of-life vehicles underway 

The Motor Trades Association of Australia (MTAA) and the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) are working on a plan to deliver an end of life vehicles recycling scheme under the National Product Stewardship Program. 

Federal Environment Minister Sussan Ley and Assistant Minister for Waste Reduction and Environmental Management Trevor Evans announced a Commonwealth Government grant of $1 million to the FCAI to promote the recycling of Australia’s End-Of-Life Vehicles (ELV).

MTAA chief executive Richard Dudley says the FCAI and MTAA are partnering to develop a plan to identify all automotive waste from end of life vehicles and opportunities to enhance or introduce ways to recycle it. 

‘The FCAI represents the world’s car manufacturers and MTAA and Member Associations who have the entire automotive supply chain, including vehicle parts suppliers, dismantlers and recyclers as constituents, are ideally placed to combine their knowledge and undertake the work,” Dudley says. 

He says work is well underway, and the result will be an evidence-based plan to implement a national recycling scheme by the end of 2023. 

“With more than 700,000 passenger vehicles reaching the end of their life each year, there is an opportunity to streamline decommissioning and dismantling processes, environmental compliance requirements, and minimise landfills by maximising recycling opportunities,” Dudley says 

The grant is the culmination of representations by the MTAA and its members to the Commonwealth Government to bring Australia into line with other OECD countries and have a consistent policy and regulations for the decommissioning and recycling of motor vehicles. 

Dudley says the project with FCAI as the lead would support and ensure that more elements such as textiles, plastics, and electronic components can be recycled. 

“This will be the ultimate step to introducing an end-of-life car recycling scheme and enable Australia to be better prepared for the transition of the national vehicle fleet from internal combustion engines to electric,” Dudley says. 

It is expected the project will be completed in 13 months.