Towards a Circular Economy for End-of-Life Vehicles: A Comparative Study UK – Japan

As the European Directive on end-of-life vehicle (ELV) treatment has heavily influenced policies in many countries, car manufacturers need to reconsider the early phases of the product design to enable better ELV treatment. This paper proposes policy, technical and business recommendations to improve the reuse, recycling and recovery (RRR) rate of ELVs. A comparative analysis between the United Kingdom and Japan is undertaken, in which the two countries’ contextual background is described along with their RRR performance from a lifecycle perspective. Barriers and countermeasures to improve the RRR rates are discussed based upon mutual learning between the two countries.