by Brian Byrne. The high price of steel because of growing demand in China has made the 'end of life' regulations much more viable for car manufacturers in Europe.
Scrap steel prices have gone from less than €100 to €220 in the last few years.
The end-of-live directives come into force in about a year and a half, and require that carmakers take responsibility for scrapped cars they have produced, with no cost to the owner.
Some 10 million cars are currently 'de-registered' each year in the EU, against new car sales of some 14 million units. This represents up to 9 million tonnes of scrap steel, and at current prices a valuable commodity.
In anticipation of the implementation of the ELV regs, most carmakers have negotiated with independent scrappers to do the work.
But according to one estimate, there are just 220 such enterprises across Europe capable to doing the work.
The enhanced profitability in selling scrap steel may encourage more companies to get into the business.
In Spain and Portugal, national scrapping networks are being established which will have their facilities available to all brands.
