Amsterdam, Netherlands — In Europe, the automotive sector has been tasked with repurposing 95 percent of the weight of End of Life Vehicles (ELV).
Ingrid Niessing, the CEO of the global membership organization ARN that focuses on the vehicle lifecycle, says that the company is extremely involved in helping Europe reach its goal and the company “aims for responsible and high-quality car recycling that contributes to the circular economy, without damaging the natural or living environment.”
She also goes on to say that in the Netherlands, they recycle over 98 percent of the weight of ELVs, and they can fit what is left of an old car into a shopping bag. As impressive as that is, Niessing believes they need to keep up with the changing technologies to be able to continue their pursuit in a greener future.
“Past performance is not a guarantee for the future. The composition of cars is changing, and that poses a number of questions,” said Niessing. “For example, how can we ensure that we will still be able to gainfully reuse materials from end-of-life cars in future? Also, the popularity of electric cars is soaring. And this is something we’ll all have to deal with because of the increasing numbers of battery packs.”
One of the major factors in the successful recycling abilities that Europe has is due, in part, because they see the importance of working together, says Niessing.
“Should recycling circumstances or requirements change, side-by-side, we collectively find the appropriate solutions,” said Niessing. “Manufacturers and recyclers are getting closer, and we need an international approach to face today’s challenges. Therefore it is important to work together in a European knowledge network.”
