The End-of-Life Vehicles (ELV) Regulation has entered into force, revising the rules that govern how vehicles are designed, produced, collected, and treated at the end of their life. Formulators and material suppliers working in the automotive sector now operate under a framework built to strengthen circularity: improving resource efficiency, increasing the recovery and reuse of valuable materials, and raising the environmental performance of vehicles across their full lifecycle.
The Regulation also aims to secure a steadier supply of secondary raw materials, reducing Europe’s dependence on imported virgin resources and supporting a more resilient industrial base.
New design requirements make dismantling, reuse, recycling, and recovery easier, and they improve the information available on removing and replacing components during a vehicle’s use and at its end of life. For automotive and recycling formulators, this translates into higher-quality components and materials, recovered more efficiently than under the previous framework.
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Mandatory recycled-content targets for new vehicles
The Regulation sets requirements for the use of recycled materials in new vehicles. It sets mandatory targets for recycled plastic content: 15% starting in 2032 and 25% starting in 2036. The European Commission will also establish recycled content targets for steel and aluminum, which are expected to apply from 2033.
These recycled content requirements mark a step toward a genuine market for secondary raw materials. By providing long-term certainty for investors and manufacturers, the Regulation aims to encourage investment in recycling capacity, keep valuable materials in the European economy, strengthen Europe’s industrial resilience, and reduce dependence on imported virgin raw materials.
Traceability, enforcement, and extended producer responsibility
Additional measures strengthen the collection and traceability of vehicles reaching the end of their life. Reinforced traceability requirements, stronger enforcement, and clearer criteria for distinguishing used vehicles from end-of-life vehicles are intended to improve implementation across EU Member States.
New measures also aim to increase the recovery of critical raw materials from end-of-life vehicles, particularly aluminum, copper, and rare earth elements, to support their reuse and recycling within the EU. From mid-2031, only roadworthy vehicles may be exported outside the EU, a measure intended to protect the environment and prevent end-of-life vehicles from being exported as second-hand vehicles.
The Regulation also strengthens Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), requiring producers to contribute to the costs of collecting and treating end-of-life vehicles. By making producers responsible for the end-of-life phase of the vehicles they place on the market, the framework creates incentives for more sustainable vehicle design and helps ensure that high-quality collection, dismantling, and recycling systems are properly financed. It also strengthens cooperation between producers and waste management operators and extends the framework to additional vehicle categories, including lorries, buses, and motorcycles.
Background: From the 2000 ELV Directive to the new regulation
The End-of-Life Vehicles Regulation modernizes the existing framework, revising Directive 2000/53/EC on end-of-life vehicles (the “ELV Directive,” adopted in 2000) and Directive 2005/64/EC on the type-approval of motor vehicles with regard to their reusability, recyclability and recoverability (the “3R type-approval Directive,” adopted in 2005).
According to the European Commission, the entry into force of the new Regulation marks a step toward a more resilient, sustainable, and competitive European economy. By strengthening the recovery, reuse, and recycling of materials and components from vehicles, the Regulation is intended to keep valuable resources within Europe’s economy for longer and reduce reliance on imported primary raw materials. It supports the transition to a more circular automotive sector, aiming to maximize the efficient use of resources while enhancing environmental protection across the vehicle lifecycle. The Commission frames the Regulation as contributing to the EU’s strategic objective of greater resource independence, strengthening the sustainability and competitiveness of Europe’s industrial base, and reinforcing the EU’s position in the transition toward a cleaner, more resource-efficient future.
“The new End-of-Life Vehicles Regulation sets a new European standard for how vehicles should be designed, produced and recovered. This is about more than recycling – it is about securing critical materials and making our automotive sector truly circular. Every car that is dismantled, every ton of steel, aluminum, copper or plastic that is recovered, is a step towards a more resilient Europe,” said Jessika Roswall, commissioner for Environment, Water Resilience and a Competitive Circular Economy.
“The End-of-Life Vehicles Regulation is not just about waste, it is about resilience and Europe’s industrial future. It helps cut our dependencies on external suppliers, strengthens Europe’s economic security and keeps strategic resources within the EU. That is not only good environmental policy – it is hard-headed industrial policy,” said Stéphane Séjourné, executive vice-president for Prosperity and Industrial Strategy.