Producer responsibility for vehicles

Producer responsibility for vehicles is different

Many different players are involved in the producer responsibility system for vehicles. Car importers, dealers, car breakers, and car owners each have their role to play.

For example: Car importers must, in addition to registering imported vehicles, remember to report automotive batteries. Dealers and car breakers must receive end-of-life vehicles and make sure together with the car owner to apply for a scrapping premium through the digital system DUS, and finally car breakers must ensure environmental treatment of the vehicles and report in the reporting system for environmental treatment of vehicles.

Producer responsibility arises when a car is imported and placed on the Danish market for the first time

If a Danish business imports a passenger car or a small truck to Denmark, registers it and sells the car in Denmark, a producer responsibility arises. At the same time, there will be a requirement that the business is registered in the producer/importer register with DPA; and the business is obliged to make statutory annual reports to the register.

Producer responsibility covers imports of new and second-hand vehicles, and all contained automotive batteries

Generally, legislation applies to all producers and importers placing passenger cars (M1) and small trucks (N1) as well as automotive batteries on the Danish market. The producer responsibility – and importer responsibility – arises for the business that produces or imports a vehicle and for the first time places the vehicle on the market in Denmark.

Data from the Motor Vehicle Agency

Since 2013, DPA has every year received data from the Motor Vehicle Agency about businesses having registered passenger cars and small trucks in Denmark in view of sale for the first time. DPA transfers these data to the registered importers. This means that if you are a car importer you must control and authenticate that the information transferred to the register is correct and you must report automotive batteries, other batteries, and electronic accessories. DPA recommends that importers regularly register the weight of the batteries prior to the sale.

Your registration for producer responsibility

The registration in DPA and the annual reporting and authentication of reported quantities is mandatory.

Non-confirmation or approval of reported quantities leads to a deletion in the producer register. In such case it is no longer legal to place your cars and other in-scope products on the market in Denmark.

If you are deleted because of non-compliance with your duty to report and you wish to re-register, you must contact DPA. The re-registration will trigger a new registration fee and you will have to complete your reporting.

As mentioned, not only importers have a responsibility. For example, the company or the private person importing a car or a light truck to Denmark must make sure that the last owner of the car can hand over the car either to the importer or to an ELV reception site.

Not only businesses have an environmental responsibility for the car; the last owner of the car also has obligations since he or she must hand over the car to an approved car breaker. In this connection an incentive system has been introduced: a car scrapping premium is paid to the last owner of the car when it is taken to a car breaker.

Environmental treatment with car breakers

When a car has reached the end of its service life and becomes an end-of-life vehicle (ELV) as many as possible of the material resources contained in that car must be reused and recycled. This reduces the need for new raw materials in the production of new cars and ensures that hazardous substances in the cars are managed in a way that they do not harm the environment and human health. For many years, there has been focus on ELVs to ensure that resources contained in them are reused and recycled to the highest possible extent. In particular, ferrous metals and other metals, plastics, and glass can be recycled, while some parts can be reused as spare parts.

To support this purpose the life cycle of the cars must be registered. This is done by registering quantities placed on the market, (imported cars), collected quantities (scrapped cars), and treated quantities (environmental and waste treatment of end-of-life vehicles). The last point is what must be reported to the DPA reporting system for environmental treatment of vehicles.

Reporting is done every year in the period 15 January to 15 April and is used, among others, in connection with the Danish Environmental Protection Agency’s reporting to the EU Commission on compliance with environmental requirements