Bermuda should ban the practice of dumping old vehicles at sea — and may already be prohibited from doing so under British conventions, an environmental charity has suggested.

Creative solutions to deal with the build-up of cars and bikes at the Airport Waste Management Facility have been shared by various concerned members of the community after The Royal Gazettehighlighted the mountain of mangled metal causing an eyesore and potential environmental hazard.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Public Works and Environment said that the Government was devising an on-island metal recycling programme to address the pile-up, which it said has been worsened by a break in the construction of the containers used to remove the cars.

He said while some vehicles end up “overboard”, the Government “remains committed to high standards of environmental stewardship”.

The Bermuda Environmental Sustainability Taskforce said the practice of dumping them in the sea spells “a lack of understanding and lack of respect for the environment” by the present and past governments.

The charity called for “dumping metal” at sea to be banned, adding that it may already be forbidden in Bermuda due to the UK being a signatory to two environmental conventions.

They are the Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter 1972, and Annex II of the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic.

A spokeswoman for the charity said: “When they say ‘dumped in the sea’, many people do not realise that they are talking right there at the dump, not offshore.

“The metals will break down once exposed to seawater, but other compounds and substances, such as plastics, will continue to break down.

“Over that period, they can release a myriad of chemicals into the waters of Castle Harbour, further polluting Bermuda's inshore waters.”

Ms Smith said some of the environmental issues associated with the practice will come from plastics, lead, cadmium, compounds in the paints, compound leaching from tyres and elaborate chemical compounds known as brominated fire retardants.

Craig Cannonier, the shadow public works minister, said the mass of metal could be used to strengthen the Causeway and expand the footprint of the island through increased land reclamation efforts. The Government already uses some of the material for reclamation.

Mr Cannonier told The Royal Gazette: “I am a big proponent of reclaiming land, and that is one area we can expand. It’s a challenge and we have to consider the environmental risk.

“Cinder blocks can be used to protect land. Look at the airport; it has blocks all around it. The Causeway, for example, what do we do about it? There was a plan in place of expanding it. You would extend out 50 to 100 feet and use these kinds of scrap materials to fill it.”

Meanwhile Glen Smith, the managing director of car dealership Auto Solutions, said crushed car cells could be shipped to the United States and sold as scrap metal.

However, he added: “It’s easier said than done.”

Mr Smith said: “There were talks years ago with Neptune Group, which operates the Oleander, about the possibility of smashing them flat like a pancake and placing them in containers, then finding a vendor in the US who may be interested in taking the scrap metal.”

However, he said a lot of work needed to go into preparing the cars for shipping, and costs to ship could also be prohibitive.

He said Auto Solutions had a “certified pre-owned” segment of its company, which has prevented some of it going to the dump at all.

He said: “We fix them up, service the engines and sell them with a year warranty.”

Speaking on the potential of shipping the metal overseas, Mr Cannonier added: “The challenge in Bermuda is having enough metal to export, so we need to do an assessment of how much we have.

“It’s the cost issue that comes into play for Bermuda — are we collecting enough to make an impact without it having to cost the taxpayer?

“We need to find out the impact it is having on the environment and how we can make a positive turn. We don’t want another mountain being built that has no use.”

BEST warned that climate change and rising sea levels “will make a bad situation worse”.

Ms Smith added: “Once again, we are passing costs on to future generations to deal with rather than paying up front and avoiding future harms.

“It’s an embarrassment for Bermuda that almost the first image a visitor sees when landing is our vehicle and metal dump.

“It says a lot about our care for the environment. It does not speak well for us.”

Ms Smith suggested that the crushed cars could be returned to their senders overseas.

Looking ahead, she said a fee should be paid with the purchase of each new car, for the ultimate costs associated with their decommissioning.

She said such an idea could also be applied to boat registrations for the problem of sunken or abandoned boats.

In Bermuda, harmful substances such as batteries are removed from vehicles before basic salvage is available to the public on application.

The ministry said fuels, oils and batteries are safely removed before the vehicles are crushed and used in land reclamation processes.

The ministry said previously: “Any potential new programme is assessed using key sustainability principles — environmental responsibility, economic feasibility and public health.

“However, due to Bermuda's limited size and remote location, these efforts are often complex and challenging to implement.”

The government website said that cars taken to the facility are crushed within 24 hours of delivery.

The ministry noted that more than 3,000 vehicles annually, including mopeds, cars and trucks, are received annually at the facility.

They are then sealed in containers, or “cells”, which are dumped overboard.

The ministry acknowledged that people are able to visit the site to take parts from the wreckage.

A spokesman added: “While some basic vehicle salvaging is permitted, there are strict rules with regards to the practice.

“Individuals wishing to enter must seek prior permission and complete a waiver to ensure that they are aware of the dangers and the rules for being on site.”