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Energy, Climate change, Environment
Environment

End-of-Life Vehicles

EU rules to make the automotive sector circular, to maximize the efficient use of resources and to protect the environment

Overview

Stacked cars waiting at the recycling center for the scrapping
© BasieB, Getty Images

Every year, over six million vehicles in Europe reach the end of their life and are treated as waste. When end-of-life vehicles (ELVs) are not properly managed, they can cause environmental problems, and the European economy loses millions of tonnes of materials.

The automotive manufacturing industry is among the largest consumers of primary raw materials such as steel, aluminium, copper, and plastics, but makes little use of recycled materials.

Although the recycling rates of materials from ELVs are generally high, the scrap metals produced are of low quality and only small amounts of plastic are recycled.

See a summary of the current legislation here.

Objectives

The Directive on End-of-Life Vehicles (ELV Directive) entered into force on 18 September 2000. It sets clear targets for the reuse, recycling and recovery of ELVs and their components, aiming to:-

  • Prevent and limit waste from end-of-life vehicles and their components
  • Improve the environmental performance of all economic operators involved in the life-cycle of vehicles

Law

The ELV Directive prohibits the use of certain hazardous substances when manufacturing new vehicles (especially lead, mercury, cadmium and hexavalent chromium) except in defined exemptions when there are no adequate alternatives. The exemptions are listed in Annex II of the Directive.

It is regularly adapted to scientific and technical progress by the Commission according to Article 4(2)(b) of the Directive to address whether the use of the restricted substances reflected in the exemptions has become avoidable or whether the scope of the exemptions can be narrowed.

In March 2023, Delegated Directive 2023/544 entered into force. It amends the ELV Directive in relation to exemptions for the use of lead in aluminium alloys for machining purposes, in copper alloys and in certain batteries.

Since the Directive was introduced, the EU has also introduced several related rules, such as the Directive on the type-approval of motor vehicles regarding their reusability, recyclability and recoverability.

The Commission launched a review of the ELV Directive in 2021, resulting in a proposal for a new regulation in 2023.

See the proposed End of Life Vehicles Regulation and clarifications on the proposal, or see the factsheet.

Implementation

The EU has rules on monitoring the targets of the ELV Directive for reuse/recovery and reuse/recycling. Member States must provide the required data on an annual basis, within 18 months of the end of the relevant year (e.g. by 30 June 2022 for the year 2020).

Commission implementation reports are based on information provided by Member States pursuant to Commission Decision 2001/753/EC, which concerns a questionnaire for Member States' reports on the implementation of the ELV Directive.

See reports:- 2002-05; 2005-08; 2008-11; 2011-14; 2014-17

Statistics

Visit Eurostat for statistics on end-of-life vehicles.

Timeline

Key dates related to EU policy on end-of-life vehicles

  1. 13 July 2023
    Proposal for the ELV Regulation

    Proposal, Factsheet, Press Release, Questions and Answers, Give your feedback on the proposal

  2. 20 July - 26 October 2021
    Public consultation on the revision of EU rules on end-of-life vehicles

    Public consultation

  3. 16 March 2021
    Evaluation of the ELV Directive published

    See the evaluation

  4. 22 October-19 November 2020
    Roadmap for the Impact Assessment of the ELV Directive published

    View the roadmap.

  5. 15 September - 8 December 2020
    Stakeholder consultation on the renewal of three exemptions

    For more information visit https://elv.biois.eu/

  7. 18 September 2000
    Directive on end-of-life vehicles enters into force

Related links

Contact

For questions about EU environmental policy, please contact Europe Direct.