smart Recycling

Your smart may have experienced its best years - but that doesn't mean that it's reached the end

Taking back end-of-life vehicles.

Even a smart will reach the end of its life one day.

To ensure returning your vehicle is as easy as possible, smart has arranged a comprehensive network of "vehicle take-back" depots. If you return your vehicle to one of smarts "take-back" depots you are ensuring that your vehicle is dismantled and recycled legally. Not only this but it will also mean that valuable materials are being recovered and used again for new products. This means that not only through your smarts on-the-road life it is also environmentally friendly when it reaches its end-of-life.

The "take-back" service available to smart customers is free of charge if the following conditions are met:

• It is a passenger car with up to 9 seats or a van of up to 3.5 t.

• The vehicle is or was registered in a country belonging to the EU for at least a month prior to its immobilisation.

• The end-of-life vehicle must not contain any waste materials and must be complete (drive, chassis and suspension, body, catalytic converter, electronic controllers).

Once you have handed over the vehicle to the depot and the registration documents to one of the smart partners you will be handed a certificate stating of the disposal and confirms that your smart has been disposed of correctly.

For a list of authorised take-back depots please click here.

Recycling end-of-life smart cars

With Daimler being the creators of the automobile they have declared "sustainable and environmentally compatible mobility to be an integral part of its corporate strategy."

Daimler AG's environmental guidelines takes into account the full product lifecyle. This includes the product utilisation phase all the way to disposal and recycling.

If it does happen to come to the time where you need to part with your smart car, please ensure you return it to our network of "take-back" depots. smart organises simple and free take-back and environmentally-compatible recycling.

Legal Information

The EU directive 2000/53/EEC concerning the obligation to take back end-of-life vehicles was implemented in Germany with the End-of-Life Vehicles act and the accompanying End-of-Life Vehicles ordinance. These came into force on 1 July 2002.

Recycling

Your beloved smart car may have experienced its best years but this does not mean it is at the end. With smarts recycling technologies it has been made possible to reuse most of the materials in your smart. This saves valuable raw materials and greatly relieve the strain on the environment.

The recycling process can be divided into four phases as explained below.

1. Vehicle take-back. 

Once you have identified your nearest vehicle take-back depot from the list provided you can return your vehicle there, complete and free of waste.

2. Removal of service fluids 

All service fluids such as oils, brake fluid and coolants, windscreen washer fluid and refrigerant are removed and correctly recycled or disposed of.

3. Disassembly.

In the first step in the obligatory disassembly the battery, oil filter, catalytic converter and wheels are dismantled or removed and sent for recycling. Pyrotechnical elements (e.g. airbags) are disposed of in accordance with legal requirements. After this the parts that can be reused either directly or following reconditioning are removed.

4. Shredder.

The remaining body is supplied to a shredder company where it is separated into different fractions and then returned as far as possible to the materials cycle.

Design compatible with recycling.

smart strongly believe in protecting our environment. For smart this includes sparing use of natural resources, and this is why smart aim to recycle more so that we have less to dispose of.

Recycling with smart does not just mean at the end of your cars life but begins right at the start of the development stages. The important of using unmixed materials for instrument panels, wheel arch and underbody panelling is a brilliant example of this.

In the Environmental Guidelines of Daimler AG we undertake to constantly improve the environmental compatibility of our products. 
We are guided by this standard every day in our endeavours to further optimise the environmental credentials of our vehicles. 

For more information on smart recycling please contact your local retailer using the live chat link above or by contacting your local Lookers smart retailer using the details found on the contact us page.