Some people may choose to donate working cars, rather than sell them. But if you have a scrap car that is sorned on the road, or not doing anything other than making your neighbourhood ugly, you can donate it to one of two organisations, and the scrap metal is sold to benefit your favourite cause (choose small charities, avoiding big charities that test on animals).
It’s important to get the paperwork right when donating your car. If not, you could be fined by DVLA. So if you scrap your car, you’ll still have to get a DVLA Certification of Destruction.
Charity Car is the UK’s largest car recycling network, and so far has donated over £1 million to various causes. Just choose from a charity and then contact their customer service team, to arrange collection of your car locally, if you can’t drive it to the local branch yourself.
The car is recycled with parts repaired and reused, and your chosen cause receives 100% of the car’s scrap value. And if the car is safe to drive, this organisation will auction it, to raise more money. Note donated cars presently don’t qualify for Gift Aid.
The caveat here is that many charities listed are the big ones that test on animals. Read more on why it’s best only to donate to humane research charities. But there are plenty of other options, and even a category for animal welfare and environmental causes. From butterfly conservation to horse sanctuaries to animal shelters. There are also many community causes like homeless shelters and anti-bullying help.
Give a Car is a similar charity and again will collect scrap cars, from anywhere in the UK. The same thing applies, with many of the big animal-testing charities asking for your support. Instead, use the money raised to donate to small kind organisations listed such as Safe Haven for Donkeys, German Shepherd Rescue and Humane Research Trust.
You can also scrap cars as insurance write-offs, rather than leaving them as fire hazard polluting eyesores on the street. Just give the ATF the vehicle log book (V5C) but keep the yellow ‘sell, transfer or part-exchange your vehicle to the motor trade’ section from it, and again tell DVLA to avoid a hefty fine.
What about Recycling Tyres?
‘Eco-friendly tyres’ have less rolling resistance, so reduce fuel consumption & carbon emissions. Check your tread regularly with a digital gauge and replace worn treads (that won’t grip in wet weather and can get you fined). Learn how to change a tyre in 10 simple steps. Ask your mechanic to recycle used tires (they are fire/pollution hazards) and can be made into roofing, crash barriers & carpet underlay.
The Tyre Collective recycles tires.
What Are So-called ‘Car Graveyards?’
Not just isolated cars, but England has many ‘car graveyards’ which are collections of cars that have just been left to rot. But of course they don’t. They simply decay over time, being eyesores and often leaking oil and antifreeze into the ground, to poison the earth and wildlife.
Some contain the same makes (Robin Reliants or Triumph). One walker in Wales, recently discovered 50 classic cars (like Mercedes) all left to rot, in a forest.
