Overview

On September 18, 2000 the Directive 2000/53/EC on End-of-Life Vehicles became effective. The main aspect of this directive is to reduce waste that is annually generated from vehicles disposed of within the European Union. Upon disposal of a vehicle as much as 25% of the vehicle's weight (shredding residue) is hazardous waste such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) heavy metals, and hazardous fluids. These hazardous components are released to the environment through landfill dumping. They account for 10% of the total amount of hazardous waste that is generated annually in the European Union.

One of the main features of the European Directive involves the elimination of heavy metals from all vehicles put on the market after July 1, 2003. Any suppliers of components and finished vehicles must comply with this in order to continue to supply parts or vehicles to the European Union.

In the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a change (January of 2001) in its Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) with specific concerns for lead and lead compounds. The specifics of the new rule will require more stringent reporting of environmental releases of lead under the EPA's public right-to-know program. TRI is part of this program. The major change in this rule for lead and lead compounds will deal with the reporting thresholds. Previous rules required facilities that used lead compounds to report lead and lead compound emissions to the air, water and land if they manufactured more than 25,000 pounds annually or if they used...