Section 71 of the Waste Management Act 1996 prohibits the abandonment of vehicles on any land, creates an offence in this regard and enables local authorities to enter on any land upon which vehicles have been abandoned to remove and store such abandoned vehicles. These vehicles may subsequently become the property of the authority, if not reclaimed by the registered owner within a period of four weeks.
A local authority may also seek reimbursement of the costs for the removal and storage of abandoned vehicles from the registered owners of such vehicles.
In addition, the Waste Management (End-of-Life Vehicles) Regulations 2014 impose an obligation on the registered owner of a vehicle, which is an end-of-life vehicle, to dispose of that vehicle at an authorised treatment facility for appropriate treatment and recovery. Under these regulations, authorised treatment facilities are obliged to provide for the free take-back of end-of-life vehicles and to issue a certificate of destruction to the registered owners in respect of such vehicles.