In 2019, London launched an Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ), where a charge is levied on vehicles that do not meet environmental requirements. The ULEZ initially operated in the city centre, gradually expanding. In August 2023, the ULEZ covered all 32 London boroughs. The charge for using outdated vehicles is £12.5 per day.
The authorities, amid outrage from car owners, have offered a vehicle scrappage programme, Transport for London (TfL). You can get up to £2,000 for scrapping a car and up to £1,000 for scrapping a motorcycle. Autocar reported that drivers who scrap their vehicles under the TfL programme will soon be able to donate them as part of a new partnership with the charity British-Ukrainian Aid without forfeiting their grant compensation.
Instead of being crushed, the vehicles will be able to serve a useful purpose in Ukraine, with the first vehicles due to be dispatched within weeks, TfL has confirmed.
The vehicles will reportedly be used to "support humanitarian and medical needs". For example, the vans could be converted into ambulances. The London Ambulance Service will also donate 50 decommissioned ambulances as part of the initiative.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan had previously refused to send the scrapped vehicles to Ukraine due to legal disagreements. These disagreements were dispelled after transport secretary Mark Harper confirmed that the government "does not consider there to be any legal barrier to allowing non-compliant vehicles to be donated to Ukraine and [owners] to still receive the same level of grant payment".
Source: Autocar
