German trade associations want more flexibility on feedstock and energy recycling

German trade associations representing plastics and the automotive industry have joined to demand the removal of rigid material recycling quotas under the EU’s end-of-life vehicles (ELV) directive.

The VKE and VDA associations said it should be possible to be flexible about recycling. There should be direct reprocessing not only into new plastics materials as foreseen by the ELV directive, but also into feedstock or energy, they say. These approaches are in many cases ecologically and economically more favourable, the joint statement said.

The associations said their conclusions are underpinned by a new study by the Fraunhofer Institut. They added that the ELV quotas are based on weight and hinder the use of certain lightweight materials, which will result in higher fuel consumption and associated CO2 emissions.

Dismounting and recycling of large plastics parts is set against a background of continuously changing and complex conditions and cannot be sensibly prescribed by legal regulations, the statement claimed.