Disposing of your old car

As part of the End of Life Vehicle Directive, car manufacturers must pay for the disposal of most vehicles (cars and goods vehicles up to 3.5 tonnes), even if the vehicle has no value when scrapped. This means that you will usually be able to dispose of your old vehicle free of charge.

If you have a vehicle which you wish to dispose of you should contact one of the two national schemes, Cartakeback and Autogreen, depending on the make of the vehicle. Authorised Treatment Facility (ATF) gives details of where the car can be taken for free disposal. Both schemes have a postcode finder on their websites.

Free disposal of your vehicle is guaranteed as long as the vehicle is largely complete, for example still has its engine, gearbox, bodywork, wheels, and if appropriate a catalytic converter and is free of additional waste.

You should take your vehicle to your nearest ATF, along with your DVLA v5c document (if you don’t have it, then you should contact the scheme, or the ATF, beforehand to make sure they will accept the vehicle). The ATF will do the relevant paperwork and inform the DVLA that you have scrapped the car – they will issue you with a Certificate of Destruction – you should keep this safe as it proves you have disposed of the vehicle properly.

If you cannot take the car to the ATF then the scheme will be able to advise you of their collection services.

If your vehicle is not listed as belonging to a scheme you should contact the vehicle manufacturer/importer directly who will give you details of their arrangements. If this cannot be done then you should contact cartakeback.