Car salvage sector faces upheaval

Various factors have created growth but also problems for scrappers and repairers

- JOHN EVANS

Rising used car prices are pushing those that would have previously been written off or scrapped back onto the roads, with many vehicles being repaired by insurers rather than crushed - and this has left the salvage sector searching for aid.

As a direct result of reduced new car supply and sluggish registrations, bangers that would normally be destined for the crusher are now worth more than scrappers had previously been willing to pay, meaning many cars are getting a second chance.

Covid has also contributed to the shortage of scrap cars: fewer cars being driven during the lockdowns meant fewer were crashed and scrapped. And the consequences of the pandemic linger on, with far fewer vehicles being written off today than were written off before the virus struck.

As a result, the demand for the recyclable parts and precious metals they contain has bumped prices of those cars fit only for the crusher from around £50 three years ago to about £350 today but this is still seemingly not enough to tempt insurers and owners to write off their damaged cars.

In the UK, there are around 2000 officially licensed End of Life Authorised Treatment Facilities (ATFs) - government-certified scrap merchants that can issue Certificates of Destruction as they meet current environmental standards. Some reclaim vehicle parts for resale, while others separate out the various metals for recycling.

Both face competition from what the Vehicle Recyclers' Association (VRA), the body representing ATFs, estimates to be at least 3000 illegal car-breaking operations that, by ignoring the regulations, can undercut them.

Of the approximately 1.75 million cars scrapped each year in the UK, around 500,000 bypass legal processing and disposal this way.

That these operators exist has partly been blamed on cutbacks in government and council enforcement.