Under pressure from European legislators, car manufacturers are investing massively in research and development of a circular model, i.e. car which leaves no trace in the chain and whose parts can be reused for the same purposes after dismantling. At Brussels motor show, Febelautothe organization for processing dead vehicles and batteriesshowed that our country is already on the right track.
On the occasion of its twenty-fifth anniversary, Febelauto presented some interesting figures. Already 97.7% of the weight of cars in Belgium is recycled, where Europe imposes a standard of 95%. “We can be proud of this result,” says Anja Healthspokesperson for Febelauto. This means that we are among the first not only in Europe, but also in the rest of the world. At the start of our organization, this percentage was around 75%. » And it’s the last pieces that weigh the heaviest.
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One step ahead
The exemplary role of Belgium, with Febelauto in the lead, lies in its longer history than that of other countries. “On the other hand, our country also has large, very innovative post-grinding companies,” explains Helsen. They make the difference by sometimes already deploying artificial intelligence for a meticulous sorting process. Due to the multitude of materials, a car is complex and the level of post-grinding plays a very important role. »
The end result of recycling should be as pure as possible. Febelauto showed at its stand at the fair what the end result of this process can lead to, such as handbags made from seat padding or even complete clothing items such as those created by the Antwerp designer Valentine Tinchant. In the future, however, recovered materials are expected to be increasingly used for their original purpose. Refurbishment will be the magic word.
-How is this 97.7% distributed in practice? The largest part (70.7%) is recycled for raw material recovery, the smallest (4.4%) for energy recovery. But the most interesting part, which represents 22.8%, is dismantled and reused in the form of used automobile parts. “With our project” Ready to Reuse », we want to develop this last category. Because it’s not just about saving raw materials, a used part also emits 80% less CO2, according to calculations.” Unfortunately, this is not always more beneficial for consumers at the moment due to the smaller scale.”
The French future?
In France, the mechanics and the dealers are already required by law to give customers the choice between used and new parts. “This is an important incentive that could stimulate this new market here too,” explains Mr. Helsen. We firmly believe in this and we are studying incentives with the government. In fact, the network is not yet extensive enough and delivery times are sometimes too long compared to new parts.
For mechanics, the switch to used parts is particularly important in the context of ESG reportingwhich require them to record the CO2 emissions of their products and their suppliers. “Used parts will help them meet their CO2 emissions targets,” says Helsen. Automotive brands themselves are showing goodwill to start using recycled materials, but they are struggling with the feasibility and already high pressure of electrification. Adaptation must be done gradually, because the objective is not to push the sector headlong.”
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