After three years of negotiations, the European Union has adopted a new regulation covering vehicle design and end-of-life management.

The law entered into force on 13 August 2026 and will gradually introduce new requirements affecting manufacturers, dismantlers, recyclers and exporters.

A New Circularity Framework

The regulation brings together rules previously contained in the End-of-Life Vehicles Directive and the 3R Type-Approval Directive. It primarily covers passenger cars and vans, with requirements gradually extending to motorcycles, lorries, buses and trailers.

Its central aim is to make vehicles easier to repair, dismantle, reuse and recycle. From 1 September 2032, newly type-approved vehicles must be at least 85% reusable or recyclable by mass and 95% reusable or recoverable.

Manufacturers will also have to design certain components so they can be removed more easily when a vehicle reaches the end of its useful life. This should help recover valuable materials and make more parts available for reuse.

Digital Vehicle Passports

From 1 September 2032, every vehicle placed on the EU market will require a Digital Circularity Vehicle Passport.

The passport will contain information about materials, components, certain hazardous substances and recycled content. It will also provide access to the official spare-parts catalogue for the relevant vehicle type.

The goal is to give repairers, dismantlers and recycling companies clearer information about what a vehicle contains and how its components can be recovered.

More Recycled Plastic

The regulation introduces mandatory recycled-content targets for plastics used in new vehicles.

From 1 September 2032, plastic in newly type-approved vehicles must contain at least 15% recycled material from post-consumer waste. The target will rise to 25% from 1 September 2036.

At least 20% of these targets must be met using plastic recovered from end-of-life vehicles or from parts removed from vehicles during their use.

The European Commission is also expected to establish recycled-content requirements for materials such as steel and aluminium, potentially expanding the circularity rules further.

Manufacturers Take More Responsibility

The new framework strengthens Extended Producer Responsibility, requiring manufacturers to contribute to the cost of collecting, treating and recycling vehicles they place on the market.

Treatment facilities will also face stricter obligations. Certain components and materials will need to be removed before vehicles are shredded, allowing valuable parts to be reused or processed separately and improving the quality of recovered materials.

However, environmental organisations argue that the regulation does not go far enough in making manufacturers responsible for vehicles exported outside the EU.

Stricter Rules for Exports

More than 800,000 used vehicles are exported from the EU each year, many of them to Africa. From 1 September 2031, used vehicles intended for export will face additional controls designed to ensure that only roadworthy vehicles leave the European market.

The measure is intended to reduce exports of unsafe and highly polluting vehicles while preventing end-of-life vehicles from being incorrectly classified as usable second-hand cars.

Questions Still Remain

Campaigners have welcomed stronger recycling and circular-design requirements but say the legislation does little to address the continuing growth in vehicle size and weight. Larger vehicles generally require more raw materials, potentially offsetting some of the environmental benefits achieved through better recycling.

Enforcement will also be crucial. In April 2025, the European Commission fined 15 major car manufacturers and the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association around €458 million for participating in a long-running cartel related to end-of-life vehicle recycling.

The new regulation gives Europe a stronger framework for recovering materials and improving vehicle circularity. Its long-term impact, however, will depend on effective national enforcement, investment in recycling infrastructure and whether future measures address not only what happens to vehicles at the end of their lives, but also how resource-intensive they are to produce in the first place.