The Environment Agency of the British Government and eBay have joined forces to tackle illegal car breakers which use the marketplace to trade.
Business sellers who list used vehicle parts now receive a pop up message to highlight that an environmental permit is needed to break vehicles and directs them to Gov.uk where they can get further information.
Sellers on eBay are also being advised to display their permit number, or the name of the sites where they source the parts they are selling, which provides reassurance to purchasers that they are buying from a legal dealer. The Environment Agency is also directly contacting eBay traders who are not displaying their environmental credentials, providing guidance and warning them about undertaking non permitted breaking activities.
Those intentionally operating illegally and not responding to the Environment Agency will find their trading account suspended or removed from eBay.
eBay’s contribution to supporting the Environment Agency compliance efforts on the sale of vehicle parts sourced from illegal End of life Vehicle (ELV) breakers has significantly increased the level of compliance from business sellers on eBay UK website. This successful cooperation leads the industry and sets an example of effective collaboration between the private sector and the Environment Agency, rarely seen both offline and online.
– eBay UK
The new partnership has resulted in an increase in applications for permits to take their business into legal status. The Environment Agency has also benefited from being able to utilise resources and time in tackling illegal car breaking. According to information from the Environment Agency, it seems that some car breakers and traders are not aware of the need to have an official permit. They are also unaware of how to properly dismantle a vehicle, dispose of the hazardous waste and deal with fire risks and subsequent risk to the environment.
One Response
The real challenge will be agreeing a standard for delivery receipt and fitting every UK address up with it. At that point, ecommerce fulfillment by robot delivery vehicle will be a practical proposition.
Sadly, I reckon it’ll be Amazon doing it, forcing us all to have ugly yellow boxes fitted to our boundary walls or fences if we want to receive deliveries from Amazon Logistics, who will use predatory pricing to kill other delivery operators and then once they have an effective monopoly, charge independent websites and other marketplaces significantly more for deliveries than if we sell through Amazon.