Weakening ELV circularity targets risks undermining Europe’s recycling efforts
The European Parliament’s draft report on the End-of-Life Vehicles (ELV) Regulation, currently under discussion, raises serious concerns about its impact on circularity in the automotive sector. FEAD, EuRIC, PRE, T&E, ECOS and EEB urge policymakers to uphold the targets set by the European Commission and reject any attempts to dilute them. They also urge the rejection of provisions that seek to expand the scope to include new waste types or materials, which could undermine Europe’s recycling and waste management industries.
The overall ambition of the draft report has been significantly weakened compared to the Commission’s proposal, with key rollbacks including a reduction in the recycled plastic content target from 25% to 20% and a decrease in the closed-loop target from 25% to 15%, threatening to slow progress toward a truly circular automotive sector. Ambitious recycled content benchmarks are crucial to stimulate investments in the technologies and infrastructure necessary to recycle ELVs plastics efficiently, enhancing material recovery rates and reducing the volume of waste sent to energy recovery or landfills.
Furthermore, the inclusion of biobased plastic and pre-consumer plastic waste to count toward the minimum recycled content and the closed-loop target for new vehicles poses a further threat to the original scope of the proposed rules, as they do not refer to the end-of-life treatment of plastics, and thus, it would not have any positive effect on increasing circularity and recycling of plastics. This would instead significantly hinder the plastic recycling sector by redirecting attention and resources away from genuine recycling efforts. Instead of supporting investments in recycling infrastructure, it risks creating a false perception of progress while failing to strengthen automotive plastics circularity and ultimately delaying the transition to a truly circular economy.
As Europe strives for competitiveness and regulatory simplification, it is crucial that policy choices do not weaken circularity or limit the potential for high-quality recycling. A more ambitious approach with ambitious targets for recycled plastic content in vehicles is essential to ensure that valuable materials are recovered, Europe’s recycling industry remains competitive, and the continent reduces its dependence on imported raw materials.
The signatories
FEAD is the European Waste Management Association, representing the private waste and resource management industry across Europe, including 20 national waste management federations and 3,000 waste management companies. Private waste management companies operate in 60% of municipal waste markets in Europe and in 75% of industrial and commercial waste. This means more than 320,000 local jobs, fuelling €5 billion of investments into the economy every year.
EuRIC, the European Recycling Industries’ Confederation is the umbrella organisation for the recycling industries in Europe. Through its 80 members from 23 countries across Europe, EuRIC represents more than 5,500 large companies and SMEs involved in the recycling and trade of various resource streams. They represent a contribution of 95 billion EUR to the EU economy and 300,000 green and local jobs. By turning waste into resources, recycling reintroduces valuable materials into value chains over and over again. By bridging circularity and climate neutrality, recyclers are pioneers in leading Europe’s industrial transition and competitiveness.
Transport and Environment (T&E) is Europe’s leading advocates for clean transport and energy. Our vision for the coming years is to deliver a zero-emission transport and energy system that is affordable, circular, and has minimal impacts on our health and the environment. For over 30 years, we’ve shaped key European environmental laws. We got the EU to set the world’s most ambitious CO2 standards for cars and trucks; helped uncover the dieselgate scandal; campaigned successfully to end palm oil diesel; secured a global ban on dirty shipping fuels and the creation of the world’s biggest carbon market for aviation. Our work in Brussels is supported by 59 organisations (49 members and 10 supporters) working to promote smarter, cleaner transport in 24 countries across 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. Recyclers are important facilitators of the circularity of plastics and the transition towards the circular economy. Plastics recycling in Europe is a rapidly growing industry 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. We ensure the environmental voice is heard when they are developed and drive change by providing expertise to policymakers and industry players, leading to the implementation of strong environmental principles. For more information, please visit: www.ecostandard.org
European Environmental Bureau (EEB) is Europe’s largest network of environmental citizens’ organisations with over 185 member organisations in 41 countries, representing some 30 million individual members and supporters.