The management of End-of-Life Vehicles (ELV) is one of the oldest industrial sectors in France, organized long before the concept of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) became a legislative standard. However, the AGEC law of 2020 profoundly changed the rules, placing manufacturers, importers, and treatment operators in front of new obligations and specific deadlines. You will be able to discover right away the current regulatory framework, its concrete requirements, and the challenges it raises for all actors in the collection and treatment sector.
The EPR ELV framework reconfigured by the AGEC law
EPR obligations for car manufacturers: changes since 2024 for an old sector
The EPR end-of-life vehicles sector has the particularity of having been organized since 2006 following a European directive, long before the generalization of the different EPR schemes brought by the Anti-Waste Circular Economy (AGEC) law of 2020. However, this law reconfigured its scope, as since January 2024, manufacturers and importers of passenger cars, vans, motorized two-wheelers, and quadricycles are formally subject to EPR.
The issue is considerable as approximately 1.2 million vehicles reach the end of their life each year in France, representing tens of thousands of tons of hazardous materials likely to pollute the soil and groundwater if their treatment escapes legal circuits.
The persistence of an illegal sector as the main operational challenge
It should be noted that according to estimates, more than a third of ELVs treated or exported irregularly disappear each year from the legal treatment sector, a phenomenon that the European Commission estimates at about 4 million vehicles at the European level.
The EPR reform was designed to address this by imposing systematic contractualization between producers and treatment operators, making the traceability of each vehicle mandatory throughout the chain. The fight against abandoned wrecks in overseas territories is the subject of specific provisions, including a return premium applicable since 2024 to direct holders towards approved circuits.
The automotive EPR: a sector structured around two complementary paths
The eco-organization Recycler Mon Véhicule and approved individual systems
To meet their EPR obligations, producers in this automotive recovery sector have the opportunity to join the eco-organization Recycler Mon Véhicule, approved in April 2024 until December 31, 2029 — the first EPR ELV eco-organization of this type in Europe — or obtain approval as an individual system from the Ministry of Ecological Transition.
Several major manufacturers subject to the EPR ELV have opted for this second path, obtaining their respective approvals, namely:
- Stellantis;
- Toyota;
- Nissan;
- Iveco;
- SAIC Motor.
This current division forces ELV centers and shredders in the territory to multiply contractualizations brand by brand, thus weakening independent operators in favor of networks already integrated with manufacturers.
An evolution in the status of treatment operators
Since January 1, 2025, ELV centers must be classified under the regulations for classified installations for environmental protection, replacing the former prefectural approval system. A ban on landfilling unsorted non-metallic shredding residues came into effect simultaneously on the same date, requiring shredders to invest in post-shredding sorting equipment (screens, optical separators, densimetric tables, etc.). These simultaneous regulatory developments generate a significant compliance burden for operators whose margins remain narrow.
Ambitious performance objectives on a multi-year trajectory
Progressive recycling and reuse rates until 2028
This EPR for used vehicles sets numerical thresholds for recycling and recovery of ELV materials that extend until 2028: 85% reuse and recycling and 95% overall recovery, in addition to reuse targets for parts set at 8.5% in 2024, 10% in 2026, and 16% in 2028.
Note that specific targets also govern the material recovery of plastics and glass from treatment, with thresholds of 65% then 70% for plastics and 50% then 65% for glass by 2028.
What about two-wheelers and quadricycles? In this area, the reuse targets for parts are even more demanding, reaching 40% in 2028, requiring significant development of reusable parts.
Strategic challenges related to eco-design and the electric transition
Beyond declarative compliance, the EPR ELV pushes manufacturers to integrate end-of-life constraints from the vehicle design phase, particularly regarding material choice and ease of disassembly. The acceleration of the transition to electric vehicles also introduces new technical challenges for the sector, especially the treatment of traction batteries whose recycling processes are still being industrially structured. The European Commission adopted a provisional agreement in December 2025 on a regulation aimed at reforming the vehicle design framework and end-of-life management, whose provisions should be added to national obligations from 2026.
