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Within the last two decades the Indian automobile industry has grown from around 50,000 passenger cars and UVs per annum to more than 1.1 million last year. The increase in prosperity and aspiration levels, even among the middle- and upper middle classes, have shortened the average ownership period of new cars to around 3 - 4 years in metro cities. Quality used cars are available from specialised divisions of various car manufacturers thereby increasing the reach and affordibility among a new target group of our society. These factors coupled with ever stringent exhaust emission standards are bound to reduce the life span of vehicles.Vehicles which have ended their service / usuable life will have to be scrapped and components recovered for recycling. For instance plastics and precious metals like Platinum and Rhodium from catalytic convertors. Today, this activity is being carried out in the unorganised sector. Persons employed in these activities are largely uneducated and are unaware of the effects their vocation has on their own health and safety as well as the environment. My plea to this forum would be to take up this issue with the SIAM and Govt. of India in order to initiate measures so that vehicle manufacturers tie up with authorised recyclers to recycle their products at the end of their useful life in an environmentally-friendly manner taking care of the health and safety of the involved workers and citizens of the country. Auto manufacturers should be responsible for their product, metaphorically speaking from the cradle to the grave. A step in this direction has already been taken by manufacturers of lead-acid batteries. The dealer collects the used battery from the customer deducting the salvage value from the cost of the new battery and the he sends the old battery to authorised recyclers. Please remember we owe our children and future generations a world worth inhabiting.
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