What are the procedures in France for disposing of a vehicle for recycling?

Disposing of a vehicle for scrap must be undertaken through an accredited salvage yard, generically called a centre of Véhicules Hors d’Usage (VHU).

Around 1.3 million vehicles are sent to one of the 1,700 VHU centres or an accredited crusher each year.

These centres are also more colloquially called ‘une casse’, although not all 'casse' are a registered VHU.

You can find your nearest VHU at Centres VHU.

The destruction of a vehicle in a VHU is free of charge, although there is a charge if they are required to recover it from your property. The recovery cost depends by centre and your distance from them, but is circa €50-€75. You might be able to get it taken away for nothing; it is all down to negotiation.

As might be expected there are documents to produce, comprising:

• The vehicle registration certificate, called the carte grise or, more formally, the certificat d’immatriculation. You need to write on the certificate ‘cédé pour destruction’ and date and sign it. If you have lost the certificate, you need to complete Déclaration de perte ou vol d'une carte grise.
• A certificate of unencumbered ownership, called a certificat de situation administrative (previously called a certificat de non-gage) dated less than 15 days, confirming that you are entitled to freely dispose of the vehicle. You can obtain the certificate at Certificate de situation administrative. You can also find it Histovec.
• The transfer certificate, called un certificat de cession du véhicule, which confirms that the vehicle has been transferred to the salvage centre. You can download it at Certificate de session.

All of these documents can be completed with the cooperation of the VHU centre.

You may also be required to provide a copy of your passport.

The centre should provide you with a certificat de destruction.

Once disposed of to the salvage yard, you need to inform make an on-line declaration on the website of ANTS. You should find that the VHU centre will undertake or assist you with this task.

After scrapping the vehicle, you may be entitled to a grant for the purchase of an electric car, which you can read about at Grants for Electric Vehicles.