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sive recycling funds from vehicle manufactur-

ers. Considering the current state of Japanese

automobile and home appliance recycling

systems, it is perhaps unavoidable that auto-

makers spend a reasonable amount of their

money and mobilise a good deal of their tal-

ented administrative staff to develop an effi-

cient recycling system.

The answers to two questions will help indi-

cate the future of automobile recycling sys-

tems in Europe. Firstly, will ARN succeed in

the operation of its ASR recycling plants?

Undoubtedly, their success will depend large-

ly on the saleability of mineral and plastic

scrap gleaned from ASR. And secondly, will

the EU establish a clear definition of the 95%

recycling rate and clear procedures for prov-

ing the target has been reached? These defini-

tions will influence auto-makers, dismantlers

and shredder operators in the design of their

ELV handling methods.

Back in Japan, used vehicles are being exported

to Russia, the Middle East and other regions in

increasing numbers, thereby unquestionably

reducing the number of ELVs bound for

domestic dismantling and shredder opera-

tions. Similarly, large numbers of used vehicles

are being exported from advanced motoring

countries such as Germany and the Nether-

lands to Eastern Europe, Africa and the Middle

East. Given this state of flux, it is difficult to

predict how a viable automobile recycling sys-

tem can be built to achieve a 95% recycling

rate, especially in Europe where the ELV direc-

tive is in force.

Lower-than-projected numbers
During the first year of Japan’s current auto-

mobile recycling system which came into

effect in January 2005, the number of the used

vehicles recorded as entering the recycling

system as ELVs was one million units lower

than the projected annual turnover, thus

inducing press headlines proclaiming ‘the

vanishing of one million vehicles’. Two pri-

mary factors seem to have been at work here,

the first relating to the prior payment of recy-

cling fees. The automobile recycling system

makes it mandatory for, firstly, the purchaser

of a new vehicle to pay the recycling fee at the

time of purchasing; secondly, for the owner of

an in-use vehicle to pay at the time of the

nearest in-use inspection; or thirdly, for pay-

ment at the time of scrapping if ownership is

to be ended before the nearest inspection.

In the first two cases, collection of the recycling

fee is performed by the vehicle dealer and the

service shop operator. But in the case of scrap-

ping a vehicle if ownership is to be ended

before the nearest inspection, owners presum-

ably have leeway to discard their vehicles with-

out paying the recycling fee. Due to the short

interval of the mandatory in-use inspections,

vehicle owners in this category would fade

away within two to three years of the inception

of the new automobile recycling system.

Electronic manifests
The second factor has to do with the electronic

manifests into which dismantlers and other

recycling operators are required to enter data

on the ELVs they have handled in order for

administrators to monitor the flow of vehicles

throughout the recycling system. What is sig-

nificant is that an overwhelming majority of

recycling operators – the dismantlers in partic-

ular – are small businesses belonging to the so-

called ‘informal’ sector. When the author was

interviewing dismantlers some 15 years ago, the

head of one firm confided: ‘In this industry, we

do business without issuing receipts.’

Under the current recycling system, however,

electronic manifests are used to record the

number of ELVs handled by each dismantler

down to a single-digit figure, thus enabling

auto-makers to check, for example, if a dis-

mantler is properly recovering the air-bags and

air-conditioning refrigerants as required by the

Automobile Recycling Law. Consequently, it is

no longer possible for dismantlers and other

recycling operators to outsmart the tax office.

Mass disappearance
Returning to the ‘vanishing of one million

ELVs’ in 2005, a persuasive explanation of this

mass disappearance is that recycling opera-

tors were taking a final opportunity to con-

duct ‘informal’ activities before the new sys-

tem gained a firm hold. Specifically, many

ELVs are believed to have been derailed from

the recycling system track by being sold to

traders who exported them as used vehicles.

Another possible way was temporary vehicle

deregistration to allow the recycling opera-

tors lawfully to keep ELVs from the recycling

system. These deregistered ELVs were then

secretly dismantled for a handsome profit on

the bullish scrap market.

In the current automotive recycling system,

unlike the home appliance system in which

producers are responsible for the entire recy-

cling process, auto-makers are required to recy-

cle or properly dispose of only three items –

ASR, fluorocarbons and air-bags. In effect,

dismantlers are hired by auto-makers to recover

Export of used cars to Russia
through a Japanese country port.

Dismantling ELVs in Japan.

RI_012_CAR RI_Japan.indd 3 14-05-2008 13:50:31