What is an End of Life Vehicle?

An E.L.V. is generally any vehicle that has come to the end of its useful life. E.L.V.'s can be divided into two categories:

1. Natural E.L.V. - This refers to a vehicle that has come to the end of its life due to natural wear and tear (usually vehicles over ten years old). This type of E.L.V. will simply be de-polluted and then recycled for scrap metal and other components.

2. Premature E.L.V. - This type of ELV refers to those vehicles that have come to the end of their life for unnatural reasons such as accident, fire, flood or vandalism damage. However, rather than be scrapped, the insurance companies will categorise and approve for these vehicles to be either dismantled for spare parts only or sold complete as damaged-repairable salvage.

What is Vehicle De-Pollution?

Vehicle de-pollution is the newly developed treatment process that all end-of-life vehicles must undertake if they are to achieve the required levels of materials recycling and recovery stipulated by the ELV Directive.

The process basically involves two main functions:

1. The recovery of all positive components and fluids that may be recycled and re-used (e.g. fuels, oils, coolants, ferrous and non-ferrous metal components, etc.), and also

2. The removal of all those negative elements of a vehicle that are potentially harmful to the environment (e.g. tyres, mercury switches, airbags, etc).

All Authorised Treatment Facilities on myELV.ie are holders of current waste facility permits and are licenced by their local authority in accordance with Irish law. These facilities are monitored constantly to ensure that the quality of service and vehicle disposal is conducted in accordance with best practice and Irish and E.U. legislation.