But what about simply asking your leasing or maintenance provider to consider fitting recycled parts?

Some leasing companies will respond with a flat ‘no’.

ALD, for example, says its policy is to use the franchise dealer network and its parts. It does not use recycled parts and has no plans to do so at the moment.

Lex Autolease, however, is more open to the idea, provided safety is not compromised.

Ian Thomson, head of fleet operations at Lex Autolease, says: “When a big ticket part, such as an engine and gear box, is beyond economical repair, we do offer reconditioned items as replacement. These parts are provided by long-term partners of Lex Autolease and can be significantly cheaper than a new replacement, thus saving our customers potentially thousands of pounds, but come with warranties from our suppliers.”

ARI Fleet UK considers the use of recycled parts on a case-by-case basis, if appropriate, in conjunction with the fleet customer.

Richard Minshull, head of operations at ARI Fleet UK, explains: “For each customer ARI Fleet UK has a salvage register detailing any vehicles that have been written off.

“In the event of another vehicle from a customer’s fleet requiring a major part, for example an engine, we will view the register to see if there is a suitable component from the same make/model type. If a suitable donor vehicle from the client’s fleet is available then we will put the option of using the part to the customer.

“Additionally, a donor part would only be utilised in circumstances where we know the history of the donor vehicle from brand new.

“We would discuss the option with the customer and a decision would be made on whether to use a part from a donor vehicle based on issues such as cost and vehicle downtime.

“There are many variables in utilising parts recycling - including the availability of a suitable donor vehicle - but ARI Fleet UK’s policy is always to save customers’ money and if recycling a component is possible, it can be a viable cost-saving option in some circumstances.”

On the wider issue of a national parts recycling scheme, Minshull said: “For wide scale parts recycling to take off and businesses to be confident of the quality and history of the parts there would need to be regulation and service level agreements between suppliers and customers in place.

“Companies that specialise in the supply of recycled parts would be required to meet strict standards and there would need to be a choice of suppliers for businesses to use. Additionally, garages and body repair workshops would be required to be involved in formulating how such changes to current working practices would work effectively and efficiently for all parties.”