Reducing ELV circularity targets holds the risk of negatively impacting Europe’s recycling efforts

The draft report produced by the European Parliament, which focuses on the End-of-Life Vehicles (ELV) Regulation, has raised concerns about circularity within the automotive sector. This report is still under discussion, however, FEAD, EuRIC, PRE, T&E, ECOS and EEB have all made it clear that it is extremely important for policymakers to adhere to the targets which have already been set by the European Commission.

The organisations which are concerned with the report are not only pushing for the original policy  to be upheld, but they are also rejecting attempts which are being made to ease them. Further to this, the organisations are also aiming to reject the provisions which are looking to expand the scope, in order to include new waste types or materials. This is because allowing these provisions has the potential to undermine Europe’s recycling and waste management industries.

FEAD is the European Waste Management Association, ‘representing the private waste and resource management industry across Europe.’ EuRIC, the European Recycling Industries’ Confederation ‘is the umbrella organisation for the recycling industries in Europe.’ Plastics Recyclers Europe (PRE) is ‘an organisation representing the voice of the European plastics recyclers who reprocess plastic waste into high-quality material destined for the production of new articles.’ Plastics recycling in Europe is an industry which is quickly expanding, ‘representing over €9.1 billion in turnover, 13.2 million tonnes of installed recycling capacity, around 850 recycling facilities and over 30.000 employees.’ ECOS is an international NGO ‘with a network of members and experts advocating for environmentally friendly technical standards, policies, and laws.’

When compared to the Commission’s proposal, it is clear that the main aim of the draft report has been reduced and this is especially clear in areas such as key rollbacks. These rollbacks are shown in examples such as recycled plastic content target declining from 25% to 20% and even a decrease in the closed loop target from 25% to 15%. This reduction could be detrimental to Europe progressing towards a truly circular automotive sector. Ensuring high recycled content benchmarks are extremely important to encourage investments in both the technologies and infrastructure which is required for recycling ELVs plastics efficiently.

Europe is currently aiming for both competitiveness and regulatory simplification, which means it is extremely important that any and all policy choices do not, in any way, weaken circularity or limit potential for high-quality recycling. At the moment, it is becoming clear that a more ambitious approach with targets of a higher standard, especially for recycled plastic content in vehicles, as it is imperative that valuable materials are recovered. On top of this, it is also extremely important that Europe’s recycling industry is able to remain competitive and the continent is also able to reduce its dependence on imported raw materials.