News | Sunday, 28 June 2009

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30,000 vehicles dumped in scrap yards

Some 30,000 cars are estimated to have been scrapped in various yards around the island, a study conducted by AIS environmental consultants claims.
The study is a project development statement, presented by Chas Limited, a company that wants to develop a treatment facility for end-of-life vehicles in the Hal Far industrial zone.
In the facility, vehicles will be de-polluted and dismantled to enable the recycling of components in Malta and abroad.
The new site will initially take 500 cars annually but intake is expected to increase when end-of-life regulations are enforced.
MEPA approved the first recycling facility for end-of-life vehicles in 2008. The facility is located in a quarry in Mqabba and can process 2,000 cars annually.
4,000 vehicles a year reach their end-of-life from collisions or old age.
Apart from the various scrap yards which spoil the environment and pose a direct threat to the water table, Malta previously lacked any facility geared at recycling used.
For the past four years Malta has been party to an EU directive obliging it re-use or re-use and recycle 80% of its used cars.
Yet no recycling was taking place because Malta lacked an end of life vehicle facility.

The End of Life Directive requires that cars are cleansed of any pollutants before they are recycled or re-used and that this process can only takes place at adequate sites.
Any recycling taking place in unauthorized scrap yards is illegal.

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