Groups target rules for auto recycling

Auto makers and recyclers are pushing provincial governments to adopt tough new recycling rules for vehicles that they say will lead to improved recycling rates, less environmental damage and even reduce auto-related crimes.

Industry groups admit they are acting out of pure self-interest: They fear that if they don’t propose their own recycling regime, that governments will impose one on them that is dysfunctional, expensive and disruptive.

“We want to avoid programs that are costly, inefficient, that have great administrative burden with less environmental impact,” said Mark Nantais, president of the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers’ Association, which represents U.S.-based auto makers, one of a trio of industry associations behind the proposal. “We shouldn’t be forced into an arrangement that hasn’t been shown to work. We believe we have a better approach.” (The Association of International Automobile Manufacturers of Canada has also joined in the effort.)

Their concern isn’t without reason: Ontario’s recycling regimes for hazardous household waste and electronics have been derided by industry and municipalities alike as boondoggles. Meanwhile, provincial environment ministers have proposed adding similar “extended producer responsibility” programs to include mercury switches, oil filters and other car parts. Under such plans, manufacturers would be be responsible for bearing the costs of a product through to its demise.

That alarmed both auto makers and recyclers. Manufacturers worried that a collection of piecemeal programs would be expensive and unwieldy, forcing them to buy wrecks off the open market and pass on hundreds of dollars of extra costs to consumers, as some European countries have done. Recyclers worried that auto makers will move onto their turf.

At issue is the fact that the recycling industry is unregulated. While about 420 recyclers belong to industry group Automotive Recyclers of Canada (ARC) – one of the plan’s proponents – and comply by common environmental standards, about two-thirds of the 1.2 million vehicles that come off the road each year are handled by operators who don’t.

“My competition used to be eight to 10 other recyclers in the area,” said Wally Dingman, co-owner of Caughill Auto Wreckers Ltd., a 65-year-old car recycling firm in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont. “We’ve always done proper fluid drainage and things you should be doing. Now [due to high scrap metal prices] we have body shops, tow truck operators, and guys with a truck with no overhead, no liability insurance, who don’t pay into workers’ compensation and aren’t doing any of the environmental [work] I do. We’re put at a competitive disadvantage.”

As a result, many recyclers haphazardly strip or crush vehicles, releasing hazardous materials into the environment, and don’t resell as much of the vehicle’s parts as they could, they say. Since vehicles aren’t tracked by governments to the very end, unscrupulous wreckers can lift their identifying plates and sell them to illicit buyers to give new identities to stolen cars. “Anybody can act as an auto recycler, whether or not they know what they’re doing, and that often leads to the lowest common denominator,” said Steve Fletcher, ARC’s managing director.

Under the industry proposal, all auto recyclers in a province would need to be licensed, operate to strict environmental standards and report vehicle information numbers as vehicles are scrapped. They would be overseen by an independent body composed of industry, consumer and other government-appointed representatives mandated by the province to enforce the rules. The costs would be borne by recyclers, not taxpayers or buyers, and lead to recycling rates of up to 83 per cent of the vehicles’ weight from about 76 per cent now. The added revenues from recycling more of the vehicle would help to offset the costs of the program, forgoing the need to pass on extra fees to customers, the proponents say.

Their hope is to convince Ontario to adopt its proposal, setting the precedent for others to follow. So far, Ontario’s Environment Minister, Jim Bradley has shown initial support, establishing a working group to study the plan over the summer. “It’s always good when you see an industry that identifies the challenge out there and wants to find a solution to it,” he said.

Sean Silcoff, Kim Mackrael, The Globe and Mail

What Happens to Your Old Car

CTV visits Sonshine Auto Parts

There's no question that the public perception of automotive recycling has changed for the better in recent years, due in no small part to the efforts of association members. Positive media exposure has helped tip the scales of public opinion in favour of progressive and environmentally concious automotive recyclers.

Another example hit the airwaves yesterday, when the CTV affiliate in Ottawa visited Sonshine Auto Parts for three remote segments. Denis Desjarding and Don Laniel of Sonshine Auto Parts did a great job in helping to explain and promote the automotive recycling industry. You can check out the segments below!

CAA survey highlights public misconceptions on vehicle recycling

A recent survey shows the majority of the general public agrees there should be regulations in place to dispose of cars safely and properly.

The survey was conducted by Harris/Decima on behalf of the Canadian Automobile Association. CAA conducts polling with its nine member clubs across Canada and with non-members on a number of topics bi-annually. Both members and non-members are surveyed to ensure that numbers are representative of the general public. Over 5,000 people were surveyed regarding undriveable vehicles and vehicle disposal.

“The research was undertaken in an attempt to put numbers to what we already figured was public perception. Most people think there is legislation around vehicle recycling,” said Teresa Di Felice, Director of Government & Community Relations for CAA South Central Ontario (CAA SCO). With 1.8 million members, South Central Ontario is the largest CAA club in Canada. Di Felice advised that CAA uses this data to help with positions on policy making. Di Felice joined with OARA back in July of 2011 to put vehicle recycling on the radar of government.

Steve Fletcher, Executive Director of OARA said, “These results help us show that the issue resonates with the public. In all my years in the industry I have never seen anything like this data. It's always helpful to have data to back up what we have been saying for years."

The survey asked what people do with their cars when they are no longer driveable. The majority either trades it in, or has never disposed of a vehicle before. The minority drops it off at an auto recycling facility or scrap yard.

“We have a pretty strong Autogreen environmental program,” says Di Felice. The Autogreen environmental program is a CAA SCO initiative to help members understand the impact their cars have on the environment and to encourage its members and motorists in general to lessen that impact. However, the public knows very little about end-of-life vehicles and their impact on the environment.

“We wanted to take a cradle to grave approach on vehicle ownership and we used the survey as a tool to ask members what they know,” says Di Felice. “With Autogreen and OARA it makes a lot of sense. There are things people can do to lessen the impact on the environment. People think end of life vehicles are taken care of properly. This survey helped us cement our position on policy regarding vehicle disposal.”

“1 out of 4 drivers in Ontario is a CAA member. And the survey came back with results showing what the general public understands about end of life vehicles. The data ended up validating that there is a gap in what drivers expect happens to their old cars and what actually happens,” says Fletcher.

OARA is leading a coalition working towards a standards-based licensing scheme for the auto recycling industry. Other members include CAA, the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers Association and the Association of International Auto Manufacturers of Canada. The group has met with senior government officials.

By Amanda Skopec, Collision Repair Magazine

Strict Environmental Code is the New Gold Standard for the Auto Recyclers of Canada Members

Whether by accident or through years of dutiful service, your vehicle has finally reached the end of the road. Few of us realize that deciding where to take it is a vitally important environmental decision. The truth is, not everyone handles vehicles the way they should and when that happens, the environmental impact can be disastrous. A program called The Canadian Auto Recyclers’ Environmental Code (CAREC) aims to make sure you’re dealing with one of the “good guys”.

Steve Fletcher, Managing Director of ARC, explained the evolution of the program. “This came out of Environment Canada's National Code of Practice for Automotive Recyclers, developed to support the Retire Your Ride scrappage program. It laid out some pretty stringent compliance requirements for a recycling operation to properly process a vehicle. CAREC goes beyond the structure of the original program and has become an invaluable resource for automotive recyclers in the environmentally sound management of end-of-life vehicles.”

The new program has three goals:

• To convey the legal and mandatory requirements before, during, and after the recycling process and promote best management practices within the industry;

• To promote pollution prevention and the vehicle recovery industry to reduce the ecological impact of the automotive sector; and

• To ensure that there is a consistent set of practices that are aligned with federal, provincial, and municipal regulations, as well as with product and industry stewardship programs.

For an auto recycler to be certified to the code, they must pass an independent audit which objectively measures both their facilities and the processes they use against a standardized protocol. ARC has made it a condition of membership for all of its Direct Members to maintain their certification.

So, as a vehicle owner, why should you care whether or not a recycler is certified? Fletcher explains. “Unfortunately, not everybody processes end-of-life vehicles the way ARC members do. There are some operators who buy cars just to crush them and sell them for the value of the metal. They leave toxic fluids and heavy metals to escape into the soil and groundwater. They don’t recycle usable parts and have no regard to the damage they’re doing to the environment. At face value it’s almost impossible for the average vehicle owner to figure out who the responsible recyclers are and who they should avoid at all costs. When they deal with an ARC member, they know that operator has been thoroughly checked out.”