Some ten million cars reach the end of their lifespan in Europe every year. We have been focusing on the recycling of these scrap vehicles for many years. Now, increasingly stringent European policy is calling for redoubled efforts.
Vehicles, like other consumer goods, have limited life cycles. No matter how well made they are, or how well they have been maintained, some day they all give up the ghost. And at this point, they become a source of waste.
End-of-life vehicles already have some of the highest recovery rates of any industrial products. The reason is simple: a car is 70% metal, ferrous (steel) and non-ferrous (aluminium, copper, etc.), which is easy to recycle. But the image of compacted car wrecks, embodified in the work of French sculptor César, still lingers. It is therefore essential to continue increasing the recovery rate of end-of-life vehicles (ELVs) and to collect them so that they can be properly processed.
95% recoverable by 2015..... continued here:
PSA Peugeot Citroen - Magazine - Automotive recycling and recovery: setting the bar even higher