More than 2,500 vehicle-owners have benefited from the car scrapping scheme launched in the Budget for 2011.

The scheme, which pays up to €2,000 to trade an old junk car for a new one, started in November 2010 and was meant to close when 2,000 old vehicles were scrapped. It was extended in May when the target was reached.

The system, only open to private individuals, pays a rebate of 15.25 per cent of a new car’s cost, up to a maximum of €2,000, in return for a vehicle that is at least 10 years old. The car must have been registered up to October 26 of last year, when the scheme was first announced in the Budget, and all fees, licences and pending fines had to be paid.

The main aim was to replace old vehicles with new ones having cleaner, Euro V and Euro IV engines.A total of 2,520 people had so far benefited from the grants given under the scheme, the Finance Ministry said, adding it was part of various measures to improve air quality. Other measures included the public transport reform and changes to the vehicle registration system. When launching the scheme, Minister Tonio Fenech had said the average age of cars in Malta was 14 years and the scheme would help the country achieve the targets to cut emissions by 20 per cent by 2020.