Nearly 35% of end-of-life vehicles (ELVs) still end up in nature. To highlight them, the government is strengthening the legislation. A way to enhance these objects which contain many recyclable materials: plastics, metals, spare parts…
Each year in France, nearly 1.4 million end-of-life vehicles (ELV) are processed, while 2.5 million new cars are put on the market. On a European scale, there are 6 million ELVs per year, of which only 19% are recycled, the others ending up in landfill or incinerated.
ELVs are considered hazardous waste, as long as they have not undergone depollution. They are mainly composed of metals and different types of plastics (polypropylene, polyethylene, ABS), but also many polluting fluids such as engine oils, gearboxes and brake fluids, as well as non-recyclable organic materials. .
When a vehicle at the end of its life arrives at a treatment center, it is first cleaned: oils, oil, diesel and/or petrol filters, brake fluids, coolant and windscreen washer fluids, battery lead, air conditioning fluids, tires, LPG tank are extracted. Once removed, they are stored and then treated in such a way as to avoid environmental and health risks. It is at the end of this phase that the ELV is considered non-hazardous. It is then dismantled to recover certain parts which will be resold on the second-hand market. It is thus possible to collect between 20 and 30 coins depending on the type of vehicle. Tires are mainly incinerated or treated by companies like BlackCycle in order to recover the material. Other materials such as cables, electronic boxes, plastic bumpers will be sent to recycling channels. The carcass, that is to say what has not been valued, is then ground. Shredded material is extracted from metals and plastics which will be consolidated and resold by recycling companies.
A highly regulated sector
In 2000, European Directive 2000/53/EC on ELVs set a minimum rate of 85% for mass reuse and recycling of ELVs and 95% for reuse and recovery, including energy. It also banned the use of hazardous substances in the manufacture of new vehicles (such as lead, mercury, cadmium and hexavalent chromium), except where there were no alternatives. In 2021, the European Commission launched a feasibility study on the future of ELVs, the results of which will be published in the spring. But according to Ademe, the current rate of reuse and recovery of ELVs is around 80%, still far from the 95% set.
In 2020, within the framework of the Agec law (anti-waste for a circular economy), new EPR (extended producer responsibility) sectors are created with the approval of eco-organizations. Thus, from January 1, 2024, each approved ELV center will have to enter into a contract with an eco-organization or an individual system set up by the manufacturers in order to be able to continue its ELV processing and recycling activity.
