The public perception of the average UK scrap yard is one of a dirty, oil covered, German Sheppard guarded no go zone. This image is not totally unfair, as over the last four decades since the times of the TV series ‘Steptoe and Son’ very little changed in the way these places were run. The need to go there was alien to most of us as there was a local scrap man that had a flat bed truck and came to take scrap away from our houses for pennies and kept us separate from these supposed dark and dangerous places.

The need for the German Sheppard came out of times when the value of scrap rose on the world markets along with the bull market in commodities, particularly the metals and the mining stocks. The world price for scrap rises and falls as do all markets but these days the world of the dodgy back street scrap merchant is becoming rarer, and that is due in no small part to legislation set out by Europe and the UK government. These days there are ‘licences’ for almost every part of the scrapping procedure. A licence to remove vehicles, a licence to store old vehicles, a licence to dismantle old vehicles and a licence to dispose of the more hazardous components and fluids of old vehicles. These ‘licences’ cost money and as such can be considered a tax on the process of vehicle dismantling and disposal.

So we have an industry that has had to move into a new era of cooperation, transparency and self-regulation. This is not a bad thing in fact one of the main and immediate effects has been the reduction in contaminated ground and ground water around scrap yards and vehicle dismantling yards. The need for any scrap yard to make a profit in this newly regulated environment is paramount. The amount of ongoing expenses for licences and inspections means that if the business is not run well then licences cannot be bought and fairly quickly it will have to close its gates. So we have the newer bread of yards that are run efficiently and any and every penny of profit and financial return is squeezed out of the dismantling process.

The facility, as they are now more often known, is usually equipped with separate areas for storing like metals, rubber, plastics and fluids. These, where possible, are sold for recycling. At this point the equation starts to make a bit more sense. If the incoming return for selling materials to recycling processes is more than the cost of the licences and overheads needed to provide the yard, then the business has a reason to continue to try and achieve even better efficiency in its dismantling process. When you add the extra income that might be derived from the sale of second hand parts one can see the business model that has to be followed to be viable.

So next time you see a brand new, high quality sign saying ‘vans wanted’ or find a second hand van spares website in your search to find van parts to fix your van remember that this is, in no small part, an industry that now exists because of the pressure to re-use and recycle coming from people and governments alike. This is something of a success in the gloomy world of climate change and the perception that nothing changes. It does, but sometimes the shift in consciousness can only happen after the profit margin exceeds the taxes. Show a man a new way of living and he may say no thanks, show a man a new way of living that will also increase his bank account and he may be more inclined to make the change.

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