Circular economy – Materials and components
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The European Commission is today proposing measures to boost circularity in the automotive sector, covering vehicle design and production as well as the processing of end-of-life vehicles.
This initiative will facilitate the EU economy’s access to resources and contribute to the EU’s environmental and climate objectives, while strengthening the single market and helping to meet the challenges of the ongoing transformation of the automotive sector.
While these proposals are aimed at furthering the automotive ecosystem’s transition to the circular economy, at the same time a number of existing regulations are slowing down the industry’s transformation.
Challenges and Opportunies
The ongoing overhaul of the automotive sector with the electrification of vehicle fleets represents a unique opportunity to imagine an automotive industry that is intrinsically sustainable and circular. Several factors are helping to speed up this transformation: the review of regulations for circularity (e.g. for end-of-life vehicles and batteries), the strengthening of carbon draw-down objectives, a reduction in traditional profit sectors (the negative impact of electrification on after-sales activities) and the growing imperative to set up resilient supply chains.
A transformation of this scale calls for the reinvention of business models, industrial reorganization, the establishment of new partnerships and the financing of substantial investments. However, these activities are still mainly carried out by a vast ecosystem of independent players with little structure, and to date the direct involvement of the major automotive players in circularity remains relatively limited.
In practice
Regulation therefore appears to be a real lever for the development of the circular economy in Europe. And yet, in some cases, industrial players still have to overcome both regulatory and operational hurdles to support this transformation. In tune with the European Union’s objective of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050, the Community of Interest proposes to focus on the obstacles that need to be overcome to turn the various initiatives into operational success stories.
To achieve this, members will draw on very concrete projects created by our members, such as Solvay’s new bio-circular Highly Dispersible Silica (HDS). An initiative that will benefit the global ecosystem and is supported by tire manufacturers, enabling the industry to significantly increase its use of sustainable raw materials and reduce its CO2 footprint.
Bring your Expertise
Join the organizations that have already expressed an interest in working together to identify the key success factors for ensuring the circularity of vehicle materials and components, at both regulatory and operational levels. Contribute to a project in Europe based on continuous progress and innovation.
Take part and connect with our cross-sectoral expert
We are therefore proud to announce our collective commitment throughout the year to achieving one goal: to help make the decarbonization of land transportation in Europe a success, in line with the objectives of the “Fit for 55” package by the year 2030 and in tune with the signing of the call for “Fossil-Free Transportation” initiated by our long-standing institutional partner SLOCAT.
Pease discover the themes we have together defined to meet this challenge, and for you, too, to collectively be a real part of it: Energy – Intermodality – Circular economy – Financing the transition – Inclusive mobility – Supporting the transition. – Sovereignty
These 7 themes are the starting point for our 2024 Communities of Interest, working groups that bring together various ecosystem stakeholders. They study the burning question of sustainable mobility, develop a common vision and jointly experiment with new solutions.
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