Azerbaijan needs auto recycling program - official
By Nigar Orujova
A centralized program on recycling of obsolete vehicles in Azerbaijan should be developed, Ecology Minister Huseyn Bagirov said Wednesday.
"Some work is underway in Azerbaijan on the recycling of old cars, but there are still a lot of them left," Bagirov told journalists. Moreover, he said, cars that are still in operation are becoming obsolete, which makes the issue even more topical.
According to Bagirov, the economic standing of the country allows to undertake such an endeavor.
Azerbaijan has imposed a ban on the import of outdated cars. According to Kamran Aliyev, an official of the Main State Traffic Police Department, the ban will help to prevent an increase in traffic accidents.
"The decrease in the number of road accidents by 179 over eight months is not small, taking into account the increase by 73,000 cars in Azerbaijan," Aliyev said earlier. "However, what can explain a rise by 88 cases of fatal traffic accidents? No one stops operating outdated vehicles today, though the most fatal cases are linked to driving such cars."
According to Aliyev, such vehicles cannot be regarded as incapacitated from the technical point of view, but are unable to stand a blow in traffic accidents, which makes fatal cases inevitable.
Such cars mainly include those made by AvtoVAZ, a Russian automobile manufacturer formerly known as VAZ.
"People have to realize that [the term of] using these cars should not exceed 20 years," Aliyev said.
Aliyev said obsolete cars have to be disposed of in Azerbaijan and the government has to pass a special decision on the issue.