Scrap Car Comparison recognize the importance of monitoring the scrap industry to ensure that not only the general public, but also the environment is protected. With this in mind the past 12 months has been a hive of activity for scrap metal recycling and related legislation.
The first piece of legislation targeted the increasing illegal trade in stolen metal; this was the Legal Aid and Sentencing of Offenders act (LAPSO). The key part of this legislation was to ban scrap metal dealers from trading in cash. However it hasn’t worked quite as well as it was hoped to.
Some traders discovered a Loophole in the legislation and have continued to trade with cash. Therefore government realised that a more robust Act was needed to really clamp down on those back yard dealings.
Enter in the Scrap Metal Dealers Act 2013, this was agreed in February 2013 and is planned to take effect as of October 2013. It replaces the Scrap Metal Dealers Act 1964 and brings some big changes for those that trade within scrap metal. But what are those changes? And what do they mean to scrap metal dealers, and of course, the customer looking to scrap their cars?
The Act grants power to local councils and makes them responsible for the licences issued to those who wish to trade in scrap metal. With the power to give, the councils also have the power to take away, with them being able to revoke or suspend the licence of anyone who is breach of the regulations. It’s not just councils who are being given more power, the Police will also be given the power to enter and inspect scrap yards that are without a licence.
What about the licenced scrap dealers? Throughout the UK the Environment Agency will need to maintain a register of all of these dealers. This information will then become publicly available so that you can rest easy knowing that your scrap dealer of choice is fully registered.
This new Act will be in power from October and many within the industry believe that it will be vital in ensuring that those traders who chose to go outside of the law will be clamped down on, and in time be unable to trade.
So in summary, those that trade in the scrap car industry must now be licensed and not only this, they can only trade cashlessly. For those of you that may deal with scrap metal dealers you need to remember one simple point.
“If you sell metal to a scrap metal dealer, do not expect to be paid in cash; if the dealer does he will be breaking the law.”
At Scrap Car Comparison we welcome any new methods and papers that ensure the customer is protected against below standard traders. So it’s a big green thumbs up for this new Act from us.
