In Brief
The introduction of the revised ELV Directive in the UK will deliver a number of benefits including less material being sent to landfill, much greater emphasis on recovery and hopefully investment in recovery and also potentially in combined heat and power facilities. At present, there are no UK facilities that use ELV waste for energy generation and without the government pushing for or investing in this, it is down to the metals recycling industry to develop the infrastructure for energy generation from automotive shredder residue.
Actions to enable the UK to hit target
This is happening at a time when metal recyclers are just trying to survive. Brian believes that the government should first of all be encouraging recovery of wood and all plastics from automotive shredder residue before material is landfilled, and at the same time be providing assistance to establish an infrastructure for the use of automotive shredder residue in energy generation. Both these actions would go a long way to enabling the UK to hit the EU's 95% target.
Read more in depth at Recycling & Waste World