Car owners will be able to have their old bangers scrapped without charge under a government scheme that comes into force on New Year’s Day.

Motor manufacturers will in future be responsible for disposing of their own brands when they have reached the end of their lives and will issue owners with a certificate of destruction.

The move, announced yesterday by Malcolm Wicks, the Science and Innovation Minister, was prompted by a European directive aimed at ensuring that “end-of-life vehicles” are scrapped at authorised centres that are subject to high environmental standards.

About two million cars and vans are scrapped every year, often at a cost of about £25 each to the owner.

The Government is tightening procedures, in part to prevent the illegal scrapping of cars. Thousands of tonnes of toxic waste are created by drivers who fail to dispose of the vehicles in the way laid down in EU regulations.

Car manufacturers have established new national networks of existing facilities that will accept their own brands when those vehicles reach the end of their lives.

Britain currently scraps about two million cars and vans each year and the new “producer responsibility” regulations form an important part of efforts to clean up the environment. Manufacturers of the vast majority of vehicles, plus recently extinct manufacturers such as Rover and MG, have made their network arrangements with one of two service providers, Autogreen and Cartakeback.

A certificate of destruction will be issued to owners when facilities receive a vehicle for treatment. The certificate will show that the vehicle will be treated appropriately, and will enable deregistration of the vehicle from the DVLA database. Mr Wicks said: “There is already an 85 per cent target in place to recover scrap cars, and the free takeback will help us achieve it.

“With such an extensive network of facilities in place to receive scrap cars, there is now an increased incentive for cars to be treated responsibly.”

The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders said that it supports the approach that the Government has taken to implement the End-of-Life Vehicles Directive. Christopher Macgowan, the society’s chief executive, said: “The motor industry has worked hard with the Government and other parties to get these free takeback requirements into place. We are confident that we are now in a position to offer an excellent service for final owners of vehicles when they wish to dispose of them. This is a further example of the industry taking professional responsibility for reducing the environmental impact of our products.”

The regulations apply to cars and goods vehicles up to 3.5 tonnes and last owners can be offered a fee on delivery of their vehicle, depending on scrap metal prices. But this is not an entitlement under the regulations and is subject to individual negotiation with the accepting treatment facility.

If a vehicle is more than 30 miles from the nearest facility in the manufacturer’s network, it will be eligible for collection free of charge.

Where to scrap your marque

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