Recycling requirements for vehicle components

The European Union’s End-of-Life Vehicle Directive obliges automobile manufacturers to demonstrate the recyclability of all vehicle components. This makes the vehicle’s recyclability an important product property which must be taken into account as early as the development of the individual parts and components.

In order to work together with customers on improving product recyclability, the relevant information concerning each product is compiled, evaluated and made available to the customer. In the Automotive Group, for example, this is achieved by means of a recycling passport, which includes component drawings, material data, and dismantling steps for the products. This form of information processing has proven to be extremely practicable and has made a considerable contribution to improving the recyclability of our products.

Recycling vehicle components

Vehicle components that can no longer be used result from repair and maintenance in workshops and the stripping down of end-of-life vehicles. The disposal of workshop waste includes the recycling of scrap metal such as brake disks and pads.

In the recycling process for end-of-life vehicles, airbags and high-polluting components are removed. In the next step, recyclable parts are extracted. The wheels are taken apart, and rims and tires are disposed of separately.

The body remains are shredded. The resulting particle mixtures ensure that more than 85% of the vehicle weight is recycled, in compliance with the European Union’s End-of-Life Directive, which will require even greater improvements in future. There are similar regulations in Korea and Japan, and corresponding laws are in the pipeline in China, Russia and Turkey.