Businesses still unclear around ULEZ scrappage scheme, car buyer warns

With less than a month to go until ULEZ comes into effect, many businesses and charities across London may be unsure how to scrap their vehicle, one of the UK’s leading car recycling networks has warned.

Last month London mayor Sadiq Khan launched a £23m scrappage scheme offering micro-businesses and charities grants of up to £6,000 to switch to cleaner vehicles before the ULEZ’s introduction on 8 April this year, which will punish those driving older, dirtier vehicles.

However, car recycling network CarTakeBack said that businesses may not know they must provide evidence that their vehicle has been scrapped to be eligible for the scheme, leaving them at risk of missing out.

‘Many microbusinesses and charities may be uncertain about how to ensure that they are scrapping their vehicle in the correct way and will be issued with the necessary paperwork,’ says Alison Price, spokesperson for CarTakeBack, which serves as a vehicle recycling partner to many organisations across the UK.

In order to be eligible for Khan’s scrappage scheme, vehicles must be scrapped by an Authorised Treatment Facility (ATF), licensed by the government to recycle vehicles in a responsible and environmentally-friendly way.

When the vehicle is scrapped it will be evidenced by a Certificate of Destruction which is also required to be eligible for a grant — a requirement some drivers may not know about.

CarTakeBack has stressed that businesses and charities must make sure that they use a proper dealer with an ATF licence and receive the right certificate.

The car recycling network also warned drivers to make clear that they want their vehicle to be scrapped and not simply sold on.

‘Sometimes if an old vehicle still has some life left in it a recycling centre will offer to repair it and sell it on rather than scrap it,’ Price added. ‘Obviously, that would make it ineligible for this scheme.’

With the introduction of the ULEZ just four weeks away and cities such as Manchester set to bring in Clean Air Zones, there is a growing push to make sure that motorists are clued up about the schemes.

The challenge of raising awareness of the schemes was made clear last week after a survey of 2,000 UK adults found that half of them still aren’t aware what a Clean Air Zone or ULEZ is.

The Mayor’s van scrappage scheme will be followed later this year by a £25m fund to help lower-income households scrap their polluting cars.