Licenses

DO I NEED A LICENCE, WHAT TYPE & HOW TO GET ONE?

 

We have produced a pdf guidance document for anyone that is interested in starting or operating a legitimate vehicle recycling business. It is continually being updated but the contents are set out below.

Please use the contact page to ask for a copy – we’ll also look at putting in a download link.

 

The aim of this section is to provide some basic help & guidance, in a relatively simple easy to understand way, to anybody interested in becoming a legit car breaker.

This guidance is focused on recyclers that handle scrap vehicles, but most of it also applies to other types of scrap metal operation.

This guidance tries to make the whole process of becoming a legit recycler a little bit easier to understand, but if you need more information you will need to contact the appropriate agency (good luck!).

Failing that, if you need more help (& you can’t get it from your local agency) then you will need a specialised consultant, as we don’t give consultancy advice.

This guidance only covers getting licences – it does not discuss what you need to do to remain legal once you’ve got your authorisations.

We have tried to cover the subject areas for all of the UK & ROI but this is complicated by the fact that legislation is different in each area.

 

CONTENTS

  • About this section
  • Why do car breakers need licences?
  • Am I a business?
  • Do I need a licence?
  • What licences do I need, how do I get one & how long do they last?
  • What is it? How to apply. How much does it cost?
  • Waste Carriers Licence
  • Scrap Metal Dealer Licence
  • Environmental Permit
  • Exemptions
  • Planning permission
  • Environmental permits
  • How to get an environmental permit
  • Transfer a permit
  • New application
  • Environmental permit types
  • Pre-application advice
  • Making a new application
  • Standard Rules Permits
  • Bespoke permits
  • Other information needed for an application
  • Site plan
  • Fire Prevention Plan
  • Technical Competence
  • Management systems
  • Find out how much an application costs
  • Terminology, definitions & abbreviations
  • What are public registers?
  • Reporting a suspected illegal car breaker

Contact us

Here are a few things to consider BEFORE you contact us.

We do not accept telephone calls.
Please state clearly what it is you want; we do not have time to waste.

CAR PARTS
We do not sell car parts or recommend sellers.

BUYING OR SELLING VEHICLE OR SALVAGE
We do not buy or sell vehicles.

PROBLEMS WITH A SCRAP YARD OR DISMANTLERS?
We do not handle complaints or give advice about problems with buying/ selling parts or vehicles. You need to take this up with the company itself or Trading Standards/ Consumer protection

ILLEGAL OPERATORS
If you want to report a suspected illegal dismantler/ scrap yard, please use this form

When making a report, please bear in mind that we only handle reports for UK & ROI operators.

We do not have the resource to make visits in person to alleged illegal scrap yards or spend hours surfing the internet looking for evidence.

We will only spend 5 minutes looking for on-line evidence, so when reporting make sure you include a link to their ebay shop, Facebook page, website etc. We will not bother to respond to reports of ‘Fred is breaking cars next door’ – we will simply delete the reports. If you want us to help, give us good information. If you want a response, provide an e-mail address.

LISTING ERRORS
If you want to let us know of an error or omission in a directory listing, then please use the ‘report an error’ function at the end of each listing.