RecyClass says automotive plastics can only become a credible closed-loop material stream if design, sorting, traceability and certification work together. As ELV Regulation recycled-content rules approach, ATFs and recyclers remain essential, but recovery quality will depend heavily on OEMs and suppliers designing components for realistic end-of-life recycling.
RecyClass explains how design-for-recycling, traceability, and independent certification will be essential if automotive plastics are to move from a difficult end-of-life stream into a credible closed-loop material source. The organisation discusses the roles of ATFs, recyclers, OEMs, and suppliers in meeting the incoming ELV Regulation requirements for recycled content and recyclability.
RecyClass and the push for circular automotive plastics
RecyClass is a non-profit, cross-industry initiative working to advance plastics circularity. The work behind RecyClass focuses on improving recyclability and bringing transparency to the origin of plastic waste by establishing a harmonised approach to calculating and tracing recycled plastic in Europe. RecyClass developed Recyclability Evaluation Protocols, scientific testing methods for innovative plastic materials, which serve as the foundation for the Design for Recycling Guidelines and the RecyClass Online Tool. RecyClass has also established a Recyclability Certification for plastic packaging, as well as Sorting Process, Recycling Process, and Recycled Plastics Traceability Certifications for actors across the plastics value chain, including recyclers, converters and brand owners.
Founded in 2014 as an initiative focused on plastic packaging, RecyClass has established a strong reputation due to its Design for Recycling Guidelines and scientifically robust Recyclability Evaluation Protocols. Today, RecyClass counts more than 130 members and 40 supporters. In 2024, RecyClass expanded its scope to include automotive and electrical and electronic equipment streams, addressing the industry’s needs for recyclability and recycled content for plastics ahead of upcoming legislative requirements.
RecyClass operates through a collaborative structure involving technical committees, task forces, and industry working groups. They bring together key players, including polymer producers, converters, automotive suppliers, recyclers, brand owners, OEMs, technology suppliers, and EPR schemes.
In the automotive context, the key challenges lie in managing the growing volumes of plastics in vehicles while ensuring their effective recovery and recycling at end-of-life. In this context, RecyClass supports the development of circular plastics in the automotive sector. Through its activities, RecyClass brings together actors across the entire value chain to ensure that plastics can realistically circulate back into new vehicles rather than be downcycled or lost, a transition that is becoming increasingly important given legislative developments.
Why plastic recovery depends on design and sorting
For the automotive recycling industry, plastics have traditionally been seen as a complex and difficult material stream. However, this also represents a significant opportunity for the sector in light of the requirements introduced under the ELV Regulation, particularly regarding recyclability and recycled content.
On the one hand, specific components, such as bumpers or front and rear lighting systems, can be selectively dismantled by Authorised Treatment Facilities (ATFs) and recyclers, offering opportunities for higher-value recovery. On the other hand, it is important not to position dismantling as a silver bullet that will solve all challenges related to plastics recycling.
A key gap in the current understanding is that not all plastics are equal. Their recoverability and recyclability depend heavily on properties such as polymer type and density. Today, recycling processes can mainly recover fractions with densities below approximately 1.12 g/cm³, corresponding to polymers such as PP (including filled PP), PE, ABS, PC-ABS, and PS.
While some higher-performance polymers, such as polyamides (PA), remain necessary for technical reasons, it is important to ensure that these materials are designed with densities above 1.13 g/cm³. This helps to avoid contamination of the lower-density fractions currently targeted by recyclers and supports the efficiency of existing sorting technologies.
Dismantlers and recyclers therefore play a crucial role at the start of the recycling chain, but their ability to deliver high yields is fundamentally dependent on upstream design choices. If plastic components are designed in line with robust design-for-recycling principles, such as those developed by RecyClass, the efficiency and quality of recovery can improve significantly.
While technologies will continue to evolve and enable further progress, it is important to recognise that substantial improvements can already be achieved today by aligning product design with the capabilities of existing sorting and recycling systems.
Why certification and traceability matter for recycled plastics
RecyClass offers certification for the use of recycled plastics across the entire value chain, from the origin of waste through the incorporation of recycled plastics in all kinds of outputs. The Certification was developed in collaboration with the plastics industry, and its traceability principles are based on the European standard EN 15343.
Independent third-party certifications offer a far more robust approach than self-declarations for the use of recycled plastics, providing manufacturers with reliable evidence to support claims about recycled content and origin and to demonstrate compliance with public authorities. This is particularly important in the context of the ELV Regulation, where targets for recycled plastics will require credible verification of both post-consumer recycled plastics and closed-loop material streams in the automotive sector.
Without third-party certification, the industry faces a steep road ahead in ensuring credible reporting globally. Transparency and traceability are essential to ensure a level playing field in reporting targets in a global market.
Turning ELV ambition into practical measurement
There is broad industry-wide alignment that the ambitions of the ELV Regulation are both necessary and timely. While key aspects such as recyclability measurement and recycled content traceability are being defined, RecyClass is already supporting the industry by providing science-based solutions.
These include Design for Recycling Guidelines and Recyclability Evaluation Protocols, which form the foundation of a future harmonised methodology, expected by Q1 2027. These documents are publicly available and are updated annually based on test campaigns conducted within the RecyClass Automotive Technical Committee.
In parallel, RecyClass certification schemes, covering both recycling processes and recycled content traceability, are being further refined to better reflect evolving regulatory expectations and the practical needs of the industry, whilst already available for use by the automotive sector.
Making ATFs part of the plastics closed loop
ATFs and automotive recyclers are critical enablers in closing the plastics loop. However, it is important to recognise that their role has limits. If plastic components are not designed for recycling from the outset, due to incompatible polymers, complex assemblies, or similar issues, there is very little that ATFs or recyclers can do to recover value from them. In other words, end-of-life performance is largely determined upstream, at the design stage.
This is why the responsibility must be shared across the value chain. Vehicle manufacturers and suppliers need to significantly improve design-for-recycling practices to ensure that components can be properly sorted and recycled. Without this, even the most advanced recycling infrastructure will struggle to deliver high-quality outputs.
That said, ATFs and recyclers remain a critical link. Where components are well designed, their practices, including sorting and recycling, can make the difference between high-quality recycling and material loss.
Building confidence in automotive plastics recycling
Despite current uncertainties, there are strong reasons for optimism. The industry is increasingly aligned around the need to close the loop for plastics, and technologies are continuously evolving to improve the end-of-life treatment of valuable resources. Technical capabilities, both sorting technologies and recycling processes, are improving. In addition to those, initiatives such as certification schemes and harmonised guidelines are beginning to provide the structure the industry needs.
We are already seeing parts of the value chain moving in the right direction, with manufacturers exploring design-for-recycling approaches and various actors testing the recyclability of their solutions using robust protocols. Pilot projects are also emerging in the field of digital tracking of materials.
In practice, a well-functioning automotive plastics recycling system would be characterised by products designed with recycling in mind from the outset, committed actors across the value chain, efficient sorting and recycling processes that preserve material quality, coupled with verified, traceable flows of recycled plastics.
Reaching this point will require coordinated effort across the entire value chain, and RecyClass provides the space for these actors to exchange technical inputs and build a circular future for automotive plastic parts in Europe.
