In Germany, the whereabouts of several 100,000 deregistered vehicles are unknown every year. There is some evidence, that a part of these end-of-life vehicles (ELVs) are illegally dismantled or exported. In this study, the environmental impacts and environmental costs were quantified as well as the economic impacts and market distortions caused by the illegal dismantlers. In addition, the cost situation of authorised treatment facilities (ATFs) for ELVs was analysed.

The results justify effective measures to strengthen the extended producer responsibility (EPR) for ELVs as well as to prevent the illegal dismantling of ELVs, and can be used e.g. for the current revision of the European ELV Directive.