Lesson 6 – Romanian Good Practices

Welcome to sixth lesson of our online course on recovery/collection of end-of-life vehicles. In this course, we will explore a variety of phases required for ELVs recovery that allow the restoration of large quantities of metals for production of new cars.

In a world concerned with environmental and recycling issues, the automotive industry and the vehicles involved in everyday traffic generate a lot of debate, controversy ultimately resulting in a lot of plans and actions regarding the recovery of end-of-life vehicles. Thus, for the correct collection of ELV’s, several national programs are implemented that offer benefits to Romanian vehicle manufacturers.

New car battery  program – a program with good results offers a discount on the purchase of a new car battery when the replaced one is brought back to the center.

E-rabla program – Purchase of new household appliances. The program offers a substantial voucher that provides discounts on the purchase of new appliances of the same type as the one being replaced, but with lower energy consumption.

Rabla Program – Renewal of the car fleet. It is the largest program that has lasted since 2005 and is the main engine for the replacement, based on economic incentives (vouchers), of old vehicles with new ones, which significantly contributes to the support of the Romanian automotive industry.

Rabla Plus program – offers, in addition to the obtained vouchers, a substantial scrapping premium for the old car, for the purchase of clean and energy-efficient cars.

Therefore, there are currently two main programs for renewing the car fleet — “Rabla Classic” and “Rabla Plus” — which are aimed at both individuals and economic agents. Any person with domicile or residence in Romania who owns a car older than 8 years and has no obligations towards the local budget can participate in these programs.

In recent years, the automotive industry in Romania is trying to move towards sustainable waste management by adopting various programs for the recovery of end-of-life vehicles. Thus, we can say that end-of-life cars represent a category of waste from which different reusable materials can be extracted, including WEEE.