§ Mr. Bill O'BrienTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many vehicle dismantlers registered with the Environmental Agency for a site licence before the 1 February deadline under implementation of the European End of Life Vehicles Directive; and how many vehicle dismantlers she estimates are operating without licences. [157982]
§ Mr. MorleyThe Environment Agency received 600 applications from vehicle dismantlers wanting to register for their site licences before the 31 January deadline. In addition, 900 sites are already licensed to treat ELVs.
It is very difficult to estimate how many vehicle dismantlers are operating without a licence because registered exempt sites may continue to accept depolluted ELVs. The agency has yet to check how many previously exempt sites have not applied for a licence, but these sites are mainly small scale and already operate to high standards of environmental protection.