National Vehicle Scrappage Program Encourages Canadians to Retire their Rides
The Government of Canada is committing to cleaning up the air Canadians breathe by supporting a national vehicle scrappage program. Delivered by Summerhill Impact, formerly Clean Air Foundation, the Retire your Ride program offers Canadians rewards for voluntarily retiring their older, higher-polluting vehicles.
Retire Your Ride
The Government of Canada has committed $92 million over four years to Summerhill Impact’s Retire Your Ride program to help Canadians recycle their older, higher polluting vehicles and make sustainable transportation choices, leading to reduced air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. The program also ensures that vehicles are recycled responsibly; thereby further preventing the release of harmful substances into the environment.
If you own a vehicle of model year 1995 or earlier, and it is licensed, insured and in running condition, you may qualify for a reward if you retire your vehicle. To find out more, visit Summerhill Impact’s Retire Your Ride website .
Older Vehicles and Air Pollution
More than four four million personal vehicles (cars, light-duty trucks, minivans, SUVs) on the road in Canada are 1995 or older models that do not meet today’s more stringent emissions standards. These older vehicles generate more than one-third of smog-forming emissions from personal vehicles . On average, older vehicles emit 19 times more pollution than a model built in 2004 or later
Read a more technical analysis
Responsible Vehicle Recycling
Summerhill Impact’s Retire Your Ride program ensures that all old cars that are retired are recycled in an environmentally sound manner. Vehicle recyclers participating in the program are required to comply with a national Code of Practice to ensure that high standards are met during the recycling process.
If not handled properly, scrapped vehicles can damage the environment by releasing harmful substances such as oil, antifreeze, and mercury. Environment Canada worked with the Automotive Recyclers of Canada to develop a national code of practice for vehicle recycling to ensure high environmental standards and consistent practices for vehicles retired under the program across Canada.
In December 2007, the Government of Canada also issued a Pollution Prevention Notice for automotive manufacturers and steel mills to address the uncontrolled release of mercury from the processing of scrap vehicles that contain mercury switches.
Many older vehicles on the road today contain mercury switches in hood and trunk courtesy lighting systems as well as in the tire balancing systems. Mercury is toxic and can accumulate in the tissue of living organisms. One mercury switch contains approximately 85 mg of mercury and this amount could contaminate all the water contained in 15 Olympic-size swimming pools. Removing mercury-containing parts from a vehicle before it is shredded and its metal components sent to steel mills for recycling will prevent the release of several tons of this toxic substance in the environment.
If you would like to learn more about mercury switches please visit Mercury and the Environment
