The European Commission wants to make vehicles easier to recycle, proposing new design rules to make it simpler to recover valuable materials, and pushing for greater use of recycled content in the production of new cars.

The end-of-life vehicles regulation, tabled by the EU executive on Thursday (13 July), also sets new collection requirements, introducing digital tracking of end-of-life vehicles “to put a stop to vehicles disappearing”.

In addition, the Commission wants to see a ban on the export of used vehicles that are not road worthy. At present, many such cars leave Europe for other continents, notably Africa, contributing to higher levels of road fatalities.

Around 6 million cars reach the end of their life each year across the EU, with a portion of the valuable materials contained in them going to waste.

One of the primary goals of the law is to ensure that these critical raw materials, plastics, steel and aluminium, remain in the European manufacturing loop.

Europe has a dearth of many of the rare earths necessary for the shift to electromobility, with greater recovery and reuse seen as key pillars of lessening the bloc’s reliance on imports.

“In the next years, more and more zero-emission cars will come to the market, increasing the demand for valuable, primary materials. Our proposal will make sure that we recycle and reuse as many of these materials as possible, giving new life to our cars’ components and greatly reducing the environmental footprint of our road transport,” said Frans Timmermans, the EU official in charge of the Green Deal.

The legislation will contribute to Europe’s aim to move towards a “circular economy”, in which goods are reused rather than scrapped, according to Thierry Breton, commissioner for the internal market.

“Our new proposal will support the automotive industrial ecosystem’s transition to circularity, boost the recycling industry while creating more than 22,000 jobs and improve the functioning of the single market,” he said.

As well as creating new jobs, the Commission estimates that the regulation will boost the European economy to the tune of some €1.8 billion by 2035, while cutting 12.3 million tons of CO2 emissions annually by the same date.

The legislation builds on the recently agreed EU batteries regulation, which puts forward strict criteria for the collection and recyclability of batteries, as well as setting targets for the recovery and reuse of the critical raw materials contained within the batteries.

Under the proposed regulation, it must be easier to take apart end-of-life cars, with manufacturers required to provide clear instructions to dismantlers on how to replace and remove parts.

A quarter of the plastic used in new vehicles must be recycled, of which 25% must be from end-of-life vehicles.

The scope of the law will also be gradually expanded to include other vehicles, including motorcycles, trucks, and buses.

The proposal will now go to the European Parliament and EU member states for their consideration before becoming legally binding.

Reactions

ACEA, a trade association representing car manufacturers, warned that the proposal duplicates existing rules, potentially confusing manufacturers regarding what is legally required.

“While the proposal is pushing for ambitious recycled content targets, European auto manufacturers believe lawmakers should instead focus on ensuring a coherent legislative framework that balances conflicting waste, product, and chemical regulations for vehicles,” said Sigrid de Vries, ACEA’s Director General.

de Vries questioned whether the market could supply automakers with sufficient recycled material.

“We are also concerned that the Commission has not sufficiently examined imbalances in the demand and supply of recycled materials and existing technology gaps before proposing these ambitious targets,” she said.

ACEA additionally noted that some innovative materials manufacturers use are difficult to recycle, a concern echoed by trade association Plastics Europe.

“Many of the plastics used in the automotive industry are high-performance products which require the highest quality of polymers available, and which can be very difficult to recycle,” said Virginia Janssens, the managing director of Plastics Europe.

“The ambitious 25% recycled content targets proposed by the Commission can only be met with a combination of mechanical recycling and innovative technologies such as chemical recycling,” she added, calling on the Commission to give the recycling industry “a green light” to invest in chemical recycling processes.

Green NGO Transport & Environment (T&E) branded the proposal “timid”, highlighting the lack of ambition on recycling targets compared to the current directive.

T&E was particularly critical of the decision to only include a mandatory recycled content usage target for plastics for new vehicles, arguing that steel and aluminium should be added (the Commission has committed to a feasibility study to determine possible targets for both materials).

The NGO also questioned the effectiveness of the export restrictions rules, saying that the lack of ambition when it comes to placing minimum requirements on vehicle age or mileage and emissions standards will harm residents of the Global South.

[Edited by Alice Taylor]

Source: Euractiv.com