178,450 end-of-life vehicles were recycled in 2008 in an environmentally-friendly manner within the Dutch ARN system, says ARN in its latest Sustainability Report. ARN is the Dutch expertise centre for recycling in the mobility sector and was established by the automobile industry in 1995 with the aim of meeting the statutory targets for the recycling of end-of-life cars.

This figure represents a market share of 85 percent, which is slightly lower than in 2007. A partial explanation for this lies in the fact that the total includes vehicles dismantled by private individuals, as a result of which ARN’s market share is slightly smaller than in earlier years. The number of cars scrapped by private individuals rose from 2 percent of the total in 2007 to roughly 3.5 percent in 2008.

The number of ARN’s partners among car dismantling companies fell from 256 in 2007 to 252 in 2008. The number of end-of-life cars being supplied started to decline in the fourth quarter of 2008. This was mainly due to the deteriorating economic situation. Car owners are probably holding onto their cars for longer before sending them for dismantling.

On 31 December 2008, the total number of vehicles in the category for which ARN bears recycling responsibility was 8.7 million, of which 7.8 million were passenger cars and 0.9 million were vans. The average age of these vehicles increased slightly, from 8.3 years in 2007 to 8.4 years in 2008. On average, passenger cars are slightly older than vans.

Exports of second-hand vehicles are closely monitored since the trend has direct and indirect consequences for the number of vehicles that have to be processed. In 2008, 259,275 used cars were exported from the Netherlands, 4 percent fewer than in 2007. Dutch cars remain very popular in East European countries. Two-thirds of the exported cars go to Eastern Europe, the vast majority of them to Poland. The average age of the exported cars remained the same as in previous years at around eleven years. The exports have an effect on the number of vehicles discarded in the Netherlands, but this effect is only noticeable after five years.



ARN expects to process a larger number of cars in 2009, mainly as a result of the introduction of the National Scrappage Scheme. Since the scheme was launched, the number of cars offered for dismantling has doubled. The expectation is that 200,000 end-of-life vehicles will be recycled in 2009.

With the arrival of the PST plant in early 2010, fewer materials will have to be removed. However, the car dismantling companies have contributed greatly to achieving the recycling target of 85 percent of the weight of end-of-life cars in recent years. Some car dismantling companies have the impression that with the arrival of the PST plant their efforts and achievements will be undone. ARN is therefore determined to continue providing added value for these companies so that it remains worth their while to continue the partnership.

The full ARN Sustainability Report 2008 can be found under arn.nl.

Quelle: ARN

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