Environmental organisation, Zero, has been analysing the 2016 data concerning old and scrapped cars and has “serious doubts” as to the whereabouts of 49,772 end-of-life vehicles.The organisation has asked the Ministry of the Environment and the Tax and Customs Authority for clarification.
Among the concerns are:
10,892 vehicle registrations that were cancelled without the required certificate of destruction, which is illegal under European Community law.
15,096 vehicle registrations that were cancelled as due to their being exported at the request of the registered owner, an implausible number. Zero has asked the authorities how many vehicles have been exported and where they were meant to be going.
7,526 vehicles registrations that were cancelled because the vehicles ‘went missing.’
16,258 vehicle registrations that were cancelled due to lack of transfer of ownership documentation, but their destination is unknown.
In summary, Zero is concerned about the real fate of a third of the 149,431 vehicles whose registrations were cancelled in 2016.
This situation is very serious in environmental terms, since end of life vehicles (Veículos Fim de Vida ) are considered as hazardous waste because of components such as batteries, waste oils, and fuels, so it is essential that they are sent to properly licensed operators which can deal with their decontamination.
Zero notes that around 50,000 ‘Veículos Fim de Vida’ are unaccounted for, blaming systems management.
The legislation on cancellation allows for too many exceptions to the requirement to issue a certificate of destruction, which has led to the many of these vehicles ending up in illegal scrap yards, which are not subject to proper scrutiny.
