for the consumer the primary focus of the elv directive is the responsibility of any given producer to take back the vehicles it has introduced on the market. the obligation does not mandate the producer to physically do it on his own, but rather allows for networks the producer can set up with various treatment companies or by joining a collective system. the collection systems need to fulfill the criteria of adequate area coverage. typically, this is interpreted as being a 50 km radius around the take-back facility. indispensable is the general mandate to arrange take-back at no cost to the last owner of the elv, however, two exemptions are possible. if the vehicles lacks essential components or contains waste, the facility which takes the vehicle back is allowed to charge the last holder.