Regulatory barriers for secondary raw materials: definition of end-of-life vehicles in Directive 2000/53/EC

26.4.2018

Question for written answer E-002320-18
to the Commission
Rule 130
Aldo Patriciello (PPE)

The circular economy action plan includes measures to increase recycling and enable more materials to be fed back into the economy, for instance by reusing secondary raw materials.

According to a study by the Technopolis group, which was presented in Parliament by the rapporteur, Joost van Barneveld (‘Supporting the market for Secondary Raw Materials in a circular economy’, 31 January 2017), the EU could help to recover palladium, a critical raw material that plays an essential role in the motor and electronics industries and in hydrogen storage; there are no deposits of this element in Europe.

Technopolis says that illegal scrap vehicle exports, which occur because the export of vehicles is not properly regulated and there is no detailed frame of reference, that is to say, technical specifications, serving to determine when vehicles are no longer usable, have economic effects which, in terms of palladium lost to the EU, translate into the equivalent of EUR 115 million.

Palladium recycling firms are being deprived of catalysts, and the failure to reuse palladium, moreover, is apparently undermining investor confidence.

Does the Commission think that it would be feasible to lay down a clear definition of end-of-life vehicles in Directive 2000/53/EC in order to reduce palladium-related economic losses within the EU?