At some point in our motoring lives, it’s inevitable that we’ll get a car written off, or otherwise have to deal with a car that can no longer be driven at all. These vehicles are known as End of Life Vehicles, and whether they take the form of large, transit vans or tiny smart cars, there are now many laws in place about exactly how car owners should get rid of a vehicle. Fail to follow the correct rules and choose a reputable scrap yard for your vehicle, and you could be paying a ton of money in fines, so it’s important to make sure that your ELV is given a proper send off and your scrap car doesn’t come back to haunt you!

There are plenty of rules that govern ELVs. Over the next few years these rules are like to increase as well. Scrap yards have to now make sure they recycle a specific amount of materials from every vehicle and have to show that in order to keep their licence, a car is correctly dismantled and recycled. These new rules allow for much more material to be recycled than in the past, which in turn means less overall energy is wasted by not having to mine, refine and produce new materials right from the start.

Of course, unless you happen to be dealing with an ELV right now, most of these changes aren’t really noticeable by the general public, but they do heavily effect just how scrap yards have to deal with wrecks in the future. Certainly, the biggest change in the last 20 years is that it’s much harder for scrap car dealers to make any money from their business, and the end result has been charging for pickups rather than paying to take the vehicle away to sell it for spare parts.

The good news is that despite the industry being in a bit of trouble, there’s still plenty of good that can come out of End of Life vehicles. One of the best ways to turn your scrap car into something a little more positive and to save yourself a lot of effort is by donating your scrap car to charity. Of course, this doesn’t mean towing your car to your nearest Oxfam store and just dropping it off! A company called Giveacar is trailing a unique and useful car donation service in the UK, which makes it much easier for people to turn the value in their scrap car into something that can be a big help for a charity of their own choosing.

Using Giveacar, all scrap car owners need to do is make a call and arrange a delivery, which usually doesn’t take any more than 3 days from the initial enquiry. The service operates all over the UK, and is partnered with thousands of different scrap yards and charities across the country. It’s a great new option for people that need to get rid of an end of life vehicle without having to spend too much time researching which scrap yard to use. Giveacar allows you to make a lasting difference to any charity you choose as well as making it easier for you get rid of your scrap with a single phone call, at no cost.