International Automotive Recycling Congress IARC 2025
March 19-21 Antwerp
Report : International Automotive Recycling Congress IARC 2025 March 19-21, 2025, Antwerp, Belgium
The ELV Regulation in preparation which will influence, among other topics, the plastic recycling industry, with mandatory open loop PCR content and close loop ELV PCR content is at a turning point. The European green Deal, so far a top priority of the European commission, has been driving the regulations for decarbonisation and plastic pollution reductions across industries, starting with Packaging (PPWR) and Automotive (ELV). Following the last EU election, it remains to be seen what priority will remain for the Green Deal versus other economic and strategic EU priorities. So far, the ambitious ELV regulation for plastics is following its legislative path forward, more than 2000 amendments are being discussed in the EU council. The outcome should be known after the planetary vote in September. Intense lobbying from different associations, representing the interest of the material suppliers (Plastic Europe), the compounders and recyclers (EURIC, EGARA), the different national PROs, the OEMs (ACEA), the dismantlers (ATF) and new emerging cooperative organisations (TFIN, ACCESSIV, RLG systems,…) and projects groups (GIC, AutoRess,.. ) are trying to pull the blanket in their interest. They were all represented at this IARC congress.
In the meantime, the plastic recycling industry is losing capacity and closing facilities (Stipout plastic, Unicorp , blue cycle,…) as the energy and labour costs are increasing, the virgin plastic price remain low and there are not yet any regulation incentive to pull the PCR demand. Only those shredders and recyclers combining ELV metal and plastic have a higher chance to survive ( Galloo, Derichbourg, MGG,..).
Detailed take away from the IARC seminar:
· ELV legislation is moving forward On the June 17th the council proposal will be summited. The Parliament is currently working on 2000 amendments on the proposal from February. The parliament will vote June the 24th in committees, it is expected that after alignment by September the parlement will have a planetary vote. Some critical definitions remain open (such as the definition of plastic). ELV objectives are multiple (improve Circular design, better ELV treatment, Use more circular content, extend vehicle coverage, harmonize EPR incentives, better control vehicle flow).
· Metal first : Plastic is not the priority anymore for EU industry strategic reasons the CRM (critical raw materials), Battery recovery, the steel & nonferrous metal industry from which metal recycling represent more than 80% source in Europe are the focus. The recent announcement on custom tariff increase with the US will results on a European market price increase and therefore will make the metal recycling even more attractive and strategic.
· Plastic: currently only 18% of automotive ELV plastic are recycled (the rest is 43 % energy recovery or 37% landfill). New automotive contains currently about 10% recycled content ( PCR and PIR are not clearly separated), from which about only 1% is recycled plastic from ELV source. All actors agree that imposing a mandatory plastic PCR content is technically and economically feasible, capacity will be available and will have a positive impact on the environment (less ASR, less CO2), but not all are supporting a close loop PCR automotive content. Typically, the OEMs and, surprisingly, some material suppliers prefer to keep the source of PCR open. The automotive recyclers see a benefit in close loop PCR (6,2%) to extract more value from ASR (automotive shredder residues) while protecting the European market from non-EU recyclers / compounders, because other regions will not have the infrastructure and the same ecological standards (mirror clause).
· Digital product Passports: There are no “design for plastic recycling” requirements in Automotive ELV, unlike in Packaging, but there are digital passports requirements to make the car dismantling and material identification easier. Today the IDIS standard is launching its version 7 it is a digital platform used by ATF (Authorised treatment facility) and PROs to reuse spart parts and to sort materials. The battery passport, The critical material passport and now the CVP (Circularity Vehicle passports for specific components only) are collecting huge amount of information to make ELV treatment even more precise in the future. CIRPASS is another project to standardise auto passport. Generating these data has a costs for the OEM , no data quality control is in place and no legislation are making these new passeports mandatory yet. Expected to be a delegated act of the ELV R . In the mean time IDIS remain the Norm.
· Emerging Cooperative organisations: New legal entities are emerging to manage ELV flows more efficiently in Europe. The control of illegal used vehicles exports (53% in Germany), the ELV collection and fees from ATF, the digital access of dismantled parts for repair and commercialisation, are some of the critical tools to enhance the automotive circular economy. They imply that the OEM, consumer, ATF / Recyclers, and the PROs (collective or individuals) are associated. Platforms such as ACCESSIVE associations or private legal entities such as TFIN (The future is neutral: Renault & Suez), market place like OPISTO. ATF network ( INDRA, ValorAuto, Tracauto) in France are many example of such new integrated and interconnected entities.