European Parliament backs car recyclability Directive

A proposed new Directive on the re-usability and recyclability of cars received its first reading in the European Parliament last week, seeking to force carmakers to design cars to be at least 85% recyclable and 95% recoverable by mass.

The Directive would reinforce the recycling and recovery targets set by Europe's End of Life Vehicles Directive by amending the EU framework directive on the type approval of motor vehicles and their trailers.

All cars must be type approved before they can be sold within the European Union under the framework directive, which was adopted in 1970. The new Directive would mean that EU countries would be forbidden to allow new cars to be registered or sold if they are not designed to be recycled to meet the 2015 recycling and recovery targets of the ELV Directive (see letsrecycle.com guide).

Expected by many within the automotive recovery sector, the new Type Approval Directive essentially provides a guarantee that the ELV Directive's producer responsibility requirements can be met by reprocessors.

Information
Many car manufacturers already meet the 85%/95% recyclability/recoverability requirement, but a spokesman for the Parliament explained that the new Directive also forces manufacturers to make available all information on the type and mass of materials within new cars. This will help with the calculations of recycling and recovery levels at the end of vehicles' lives.

Vehicle manufacturers must also list the component parts and detail how to dismantle and treat them in order to help vehicle recyclers and dismantlers.

The new Type Approval Directive will not apply to special purpose vehicles, multi-stage built vehicles or vehicles produced in small series. This is because such vehicles are made in small numbers, or are adapted after manufacture and thus out of the manufacturers' control.

Compromise
The first reading of the proposed Directive came following extensive discussions with the European Commission, MEPs and ministers within EU Member States. A compromise position was produced, which MEPs said will cut potential red tape.

The European Parliament lengthened the time that motor manufacturers would have to meet the recyclability requirements to 54 months after the new Directive comes into force. The Commission had originally said manufacturers should have 36 months to comply, but MEPs said the extended deadline would fit into existing production cycles and therefore cause less disruption.

The Parliamentary report on the proposed Directive explained: “From the point of view of the type-approval authorities, a 36-month period is unrealistic. In Europe, there are some 600 types on the market, all of which would have to undergo fresh checks during that period. It is clear that this is simply not feasible and would result in derogations being granted in individual Member States, thereby distorting the market.”