Recycling motor vehicles

End of life vehicles have one of the highest overall recycling rates of any commercial or industrial product, with up to 75% reclamation, reuse and recycling of total vehicle weight.

The long delays the EU End of Life Vehicle Directive experienced in being approved at a European level are being mirrored on a national level. None of the EU's member states managed to transpose the Directive into national law by the deadline of 21 April 2002. All have faced problems in agreeing a financing structure for the legislation, which has been accused of being somewhat vague on the details as well as conflicting in some ways with national constitutions which prevent legislation containing retroactive measures. The Directive sets a target of 95% reuse or recovery for ELVs by 2015. Some countries have gone so far as to develop the collection and recovery systems but are awaiting final agreements on liability and financing.