Page 2 - Policy Brief on Designing a Business Model for Sustainable Management of End-of-Life Vehicles (ELVs) in India
P. 2
TERI Policy Brief
Background estimates would also indicate the maximum amount
of raw material available for secondary use from this
An increased awareness of our environment, and source and a way to reduce the potential demand for
concerns linked to the degradation of the same, has virgin raw materials.
led to many regulations around the manufacturing and
disposal of products of various kinds. Vehicles are one Based on the way in which the informal sector
of the critical products that characterize consumer currently operates, there is a potential for improvement
lifestyles, particularly that of the middle-class segment in the efficiency of material recovery by use of cleaner
of the population in developing countries such as India. and efficient technologies. For instance, using these
technologies at the recovery stage would also ensure
Currently ELVs in India usually end-up in the informal that materials of high value, such as copper wires and
sector, such as the scrap yards at Mayapuri, New Delhi, platinum from catalytic converters are recovered prior
or Pudhupet, Chennai. In these scrap yards, there is to the shredding stage.
dismantling (stripping vehicles and scrap metals and
recovering all sorts of parts) that happens using crude It is important to highlight here that the informal
ways, after which the recovered auto components are sector managing the ELVs provides employment to a large
either refurbished and sold in the second-hand market number of people.5 However, their operations create a
(directly to end use consumers or traders of second-hand lot of pollution (air and water) posing serious threats to
parts) or the material resource is recovered from these the health and hygiene of society. For example, copious
components and sent for recycling (in many cases for amounts of rubber and plastic enter the municipal solid
down cycling). With Original Equipment Manufacturers waste stream thereby posing serious health hazards.
(OEMs) introducing new fleet of vehicles to meet the
new emission norms and design specifications, this Existing System of ELV Recovery and
implies that lesser number of components could be Sustainable Management
reused. This would also lead to more focus being on
recovery of materials from the used components. A vehicle, both commercial and private, is registered for
15 years in India. Some state governments also collect a
Table 1 presents the estimates for the different lifetime of road tax6 linked to this registration. However,
types of raw material that is present in the category even after the vehicle has reached its end of life, vehicle
of vehicles-taxis which are expected to reach end of owners have many options. The owner can continue to
life in Delhi-NCR. These estimates were calculated by run it illegally, sell it to another user,7 keep it parked
Table 1: Material available for secondary use: A case study from taxis in Delhi-NCR
Number Average Total weight Plastic (in Steel Rubber (in Foam (in Aluminium Copper Glass Other Synthetic Polycarbon-
of weight of of Taxis (in Kilograms) (MS+HSS) Kilograms) Kilo- (in Kilo- (in Kilo- (in Kilo-
a Taxi ( in Kilograms) grams) grams) grams) (in Kilo- (in Kilo- ate (in
Taxis* Kilograms) (in Kilo- grams)
grams) grams) grams) Kilograms)
Delhi 75629 1000 75629000 3810464 51909545 3018285 639409 11736246 474400 1542144 82504 521153 137507
Gurgaon 4869 1000 4869000 245318 3341940 194317 41165 755580 30542 99283 5312 33552 8853
Sonipat 1065 1000 1065000 53659 730985 42503 9004 165269 6680 21716 1162 7339 1936
Faridabad 9181 1000 9181000 462572 6301571 366405 77621 1424724 57590 187209 10016 63265 16693
Noida+Gaziabad 17500 1000 17500000 881714 12011491 698409 147955 2715682 109773 356841 19091 120591 31818
Total 5453726 74295533 4319920 915154 16797501 678985 2207194 118084 745900 196807
* Registration data compiled from State Statistical Abstracts
Source: Authors Estimation based on primary data collected as part of this study
the authors based on the weighing of scrap generation 5 It has been estimated that in the year 2011, 3,200 informal ELV units in Delhi provided 9,600
from actual dismantling of few of these vehicles.4 These jobs (Chintan-GIZ report, 2012).
4 Authors would like to acknowledge the support provided by Cartiff and the informal sector 6 It has also been suggested by SIAM that this tax should be discontinued in public interest
dismantlers of the Mayapuri area. as it does not serve any major purpose including traceability of the vehicle. We would
particularly like to acknowledge some of the valuable inputs received from Captain Mohan
Ram, Consultant to TVS Motor Company and Chairman, SIAM Recycling Group which have
helped us structure some aspects of the proposed sustainable ELV recovery and management
system/business model.
7 Many of these vehicles (i.e., those that should have been scrapped, as per the government
requirement) are instead sold to rural areas or to the second-hand market.
2 MARCH 2017
Background estimates would also indicate the maximum amount
of raw material available for secondary use from this
An increased awareness of our environment, and source and a way to reduce the potential demand for
concerns linked to the degradation of the same, has virgin raw materials.
led to many regulations around the manufacturing and
disposal of products of various kinds. Vehicles are one Based on the way in which the informal sector
of the critical products that characterize consumer currently operates, there is a potential for improvement
lifestyles, particularly that of the middle-class segment in the efficiency of material recovery by use of cleaner
of the population in developing countries such as India. and efficient technologies. For instance, using these
technologies at the recovery stage would also ensure
Currently ELVs in India usually end-up in the informal that materials of high value, such as copper wires and
sector, such as the scrap yards at Mayapuri, New Delhi, platinum from catalytic converters are recovered prior
or Pudhupet, Chennai. In these scrap yards, there is to the shredding stage.
dismantling (stripping vehicles and scrap metals and
recovering all sorts of parts) that happens using crude It is important to highlight here that the informal
ways, after which the recovered auto components are sector managing the ELVs provides employment to a large
either refurbished and sold in the second-hand market number of people.5 However, their operations create a
(directly to end use consumers or traders of second-hand lot of pollution (air and water) posing serious threats to
parts) or the material resource is recovered from these the health and hygiene of society. For example, copious
components and sent for recycling (in many cases for amounts of rubber and plastic enter the municipal solid
down cycling). With Original Equipment Manufacturers waste stream thereby posing serious health hazards.
(OEMs) introducing new fleet of vehicles to meet the
new emission norms and design specifications, this Existing System of ELV Recovery and
implies that lesser number of components could be Sustainable Management
reused. This would also lead to more focus being on
recovery of materials from the used components. A vehicle, both commercial and private, is registered for
15 years in India. Some state governments also collect a
Table 1 presents the estimates for the different lifetime of road tax6 linked to this registration. However,
types of raw material that is present in the category even after the vehicle has reached its end of life, vehicle
of vehicles-taxis which are expected to reach end of owners have many options. The owner can continue to
life in Delhi-NCR. These estimates were calculated by run it illegally, sell it to another user,7 keep it parked
Table 1: Material available for secondary use: A case study from taxis in Delhi-NCR
Number Average Total weight Plastic (in Steel Rubber (in Foam (in Aluminium Copper Glass Other Synthetic Polycarbon-
of weight of of Taxis (in Kilograms) (MS+HSS) Kilograms) Kilo- (in Kilo- (in Kilo- (in Kilo-
a Taxi ( in Kilograms) grams) grams) grams) (in Kilo- (in Kilo- ate (in
Taxis* Kilograms) (in Kilo- grams)
grams) grams) grams) Kilograms)
Delhi 75629 1000 75629000 3810464 51909545 3018285 639409 11736246 474400 1542144 82504 521153 137507
Gurgaon 4869 1000 4869000 245318 3341940 194317 41165 755580 30542 99283 5312 33552 8853
Sonipat 1065 1000 1065000 53659 730985 42503 9004 165269 6680 21716 1162 7339 1936
Faridabad 9181 1000 9181000 462572 6301571 366405 77621 1424724 57590 187209 10016 63265 16693
Noida+Gaziabad 17500 1000 17500000 881714 12011491 698409 147955 2715682 109773 356841 19091 120591 31818
Total 5453726 74295533 4319920 915154 16797501 678985 2207194 118084 745900 196807
* Registration data compiled from State Statistical Abstracts
Source: Authors Estimation based on primary data collected as part of this study
the authors based on the weighing of scrap generation 5 It has been estimated that in the year 2011, 3,200 informal ELV units in Delhi provided 9,600
from actual dismantling of few of these vehicles.4 These jobs (Chintan-GIZ report, 2012).
4 Authors would like to acknowledge the support provided by Cartiff and the informal sector 6 It has also been suggested by SIAM that this tax should be discontinued in public interest
dismantlers of the Mayapuri area. as it does not serve any major purpose including traceability of the vehicle. We would
particularly like to acknowledge some of the valuable inputs received from Captain Mohan
Ram, Consultant to TVS Motor Company and Chairman, SIAM Recycling Group which have
helped us structure some aspects of the proposed sustainable ELV recovery and management
system/business model.
7 Many of these vehicles (i.e., those that should have been scrapped, as per the government
requirement) are instead sold to rural areas or to the second-hand market.
2 MARCH 2017
