For Export

Last year, 4.66 million passenger cars were registered for road use in Switzerland. According to the Federal Statistical Office, the average age of passenger cars in Switzerland is 8.4 years.

However, most vehicles are resold and slightly refurbished for export, largely to avoid the administrative burden and disposal costs. Because the guidelines for vehicle registration are constantly being tightened, more and more end-of-life vehicles will be produced in the future. The direction of export is often based on the sales price. The largest buyers of end-of-life vehicles are South America, Asia and West Africa. Despite existing environmental standards and a free trade agreement with the EU that is supposed to regulate and control the road registration of end-of-life vehicles, large quantities of end-of-life vehicles continue to end up on the roads worldwide. The agreed guidelines are repeatedly not controlled or circumvented with handouts. This results in an unregulated export of environmentally harmful vehicles.

End-of-life vehicles are often in a substandard condition that not only pollutes the environment but also endangers the lives of the occupants as well as other road users. Our efforts to replace end-of-life vehicles with new and environmentally friendly ones also increase the number of end-of-life vehicles.

The problem is dealt with in Switzerland, but continues to exist in other countries through our export and consumption behaviour. This merely shifts pollution and health burdens and significantly impedes efforts to mitigate climate change. This is a pattern that is more often seen in climate policy. 

The pictures illustrate the cycle of end-of-life vehicles. Among other things, vehicles are shown that were offered for sale in Swiss advertisements with the note “For Export”. Above these pictures, there are covered vehicles that represent valuable mobility as end-of-life vehicles in Senegal and Guniea Bissau. 

Preservation extends the life of end-of-life vehicles or vehicles will vegetate in this form in the landscape for many years. The polluting effects will remain and continue for years. At the same time, tonnes of valuable raw materials are lost every year and are thus not recycled in a clean cycle.