Motorbikers call for recycling exemption

Date: 10/09/1998

By Myles Neligan

EU MOTORCYCLISTS are calling on MEPs to exempt motorbikes from a European Commission plan to make all road vehicles recyclable, as the Parliament's environment committee prepares to vote on the proposal next month.

The Federation of European Motorcyclists' Associations (FEMA) argues that applying the measure to motorbikes is unnecessary as they are routinely recycled anyway, and claims that up to 1,000 European small businesses would be put at risk if the proposal became law.

The plan aims to reduce the amount of waste generated when motor vehicles reach the end of their lives, by ensuring that a greater proportion of their components are reused. Vehicles could only be destroyed if accompanied by a 'certificate of destruction' confirming that all spare parts suitable for recycling had been removed.

"This is a classic example of the Commission proposing legislation where none is needed," said FEMA secretary-general Simon Milward. "The proposal does not acknowledge that the reuse of parts from old machines has long been part of the culture of motorcycling, in contrast to car driving."

FEMA says that few motorcycle mechanics have the resources to comply with the highly demanding certification requirements set out in the proposal, and fears that it would force many small garages out of business.

"We hope the European Parliament will agree that this measure would do great damage to motorcycling, which is in fact one of the most environmentally friendly forms of transport," said Milward, pointing out that scrap from worn out motorcycles accounted for only 3% of all automotive waste produced in the Union.

As the measure must be approved by both MEPs and national governments, a parliamentary decision to exempt motorbikes from its scope would be a major victory for EU motorcyclists. German Christian Democrat MEP Karl-Heinz Florenz, who is guiding the proposal through the Parliament's environment committee, has indicated that he will support an exemption for motorcycles when the group votes on the issue on 27 October.

At least six EU member states also support a waiver for motorbikes and scooters in recognition of the growing popularity of two-wheeled vehicles, seen by many drivers as a way of beating traffic congestion.

But the Commission is sticking to its guns. "The purpose of the directive is to reduce the annual level of automotive waste and to do so in an environmentally friendly way. The more exemptions are allowed, the further we will be from achieving this objective," said a spokesman for Environment Commissioner Ritt Bjerregaard.