Could you show me the rules that enforced that because it's not affected me?
You mean that in UK you can buy and sell parts of appliances on a scrap yard??
Lucky you, it is forbidden to buy and to sell such components here (Poland). We are obliged to return
complete appliance to specialized e-waste collecting points (via the shop when you buy new appliance or dedicated collecting points or scrap yards or independent e-waste collector companies, whatever the path). A fine for disposing e-waste out of this e-waste cycle is around 1200€ here.
These are the consequences of european regulations regarding e-waste. Take a look at
Directive 2012/19/EUMy country implemented these changes in 2015. The end result is that scrap yard can only buy complete appliances and
must not disassemble/process them by themselves. They literally won't allow you to disassemble the dishwasher that some other guy sold them 10 minutes earlier! Then
complete appliance is transported to a dedicated e-waste processing plant that has the right to recycle it (which means: shred to bits and remelt).
In conclusion - no cheap spares on scrap yards since 2015.
Is it different in other EU countries?