Management of the end-of-life of light and heavy vehicles in the U.S.: comparison with the European union in a circular economy perspective

Abstract

In a context of transition towards a more circular economy (CE), this study undertakes an analysis of the appropriate transfers and applications of best managerial practices, regulations and know-how from the automotive sector to the heavy vehicle one, as well as from the European Union (EU) to the United States of America (U.S.), and vice versa. While the EU appears to be a few steps ahead of policy activity regarding the management of end-of-life automotive vehicles (Directive 2000/53/EC and Extended Producer Responsibility principles), the U.S. heavy vehicle industry presents several aspirational industrial practices, including the collaboration between end-of-life actors, supporting parts remanufacturing and facilitating reuse. New empirical findings and lessons learned from both geographical regions are combined with previous analyses to develop a benchmarking template of commendable CE practices. Against this background, the findings open on the remaining challenges and circular economy opportunities for both regions, as well as for emerging and newly industrialized countries whose automotive markets are growing fast.

End-of-life vehicles research development in Malaysia: a comprehensive review with the integrated conceptual model of innovative sustainable manufacturing elements

“…The market-based ELV recycling stream had been well developed in Japan before the ELV Recycling Act was enacted in 2005 to govern ELV management [ 18 ]. The ELV directive primarily leads the circular economy (CE) of vehicles in the EU with emphasis on the concept of extended producer responsibility (EPR), in which the automobile makers and importers are accountable for recycling expenses [ 19 ]. Meanwhile, Malaysia (42) is ranked as one of the top ten countries contributing considerably to ELV-related studies.…”

A Structural Analysis on the Global Actors’ Adaptive Change Tendencies Towards the Circular Economy

“…Therefore, the lack of comprehensive federal policies is also a reason for confusion among stakeholders in terms of the implementation of the CE in different sectors (Ryen and Babbitt, 2022). To illustrate, Saidani et al (2019) argue that the US lags behind the EU in terms of the circularity of the automobile/vehicle industry due to the lack of federal regulations and inconsistent state regulations on the issue. As a more specific example, while the EU recovered 92% of its used tires, this percentage is 75.6 in the US (the valorization of end-of-life tires) (Martínez, 2021).…”

Remanufacturing in the Heavy Vehicle Industry—Case Study of a Finnish Machine Manufacturer

“…Challenging materials, increased product complexity, unsuitability for remanufacturing [3,4,6,10,11,18] Material collection, reverse logistics, lead time and core management [8,10,19] Uncertain and varying quality of the returned cores [8,10,19] Shortage of skilled workforce and lack of remanufacturing-specific tools and techniques [4,8,18] Additional resources and costs of remanufacturing [4,8,18] Lack of stable demand [3,18] Unpredictability and low reliability of capacity planning [1,19] Lack of clear legal definitions and standards [10,18] Legislation, such as restrictions on importing cores and remanufactured goods, and environmental legislation [10,18] Marketing of remanufactured products and finding markets (increasing prosperity, throwaway culture, customer demand for newness, valuing newness more than quality, and technological advances of new products) [5,18,19] Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) restrictions [18,20] Pricing models [8] Many authors [4,9,11] recognised, especially regarding the vehicle industry, that while the manufacturers aim to reduce the weights of the vehicles by using material mixtures such as carbon fibre-reinforced plastics, the vehicles become less recyclable, and the EoL operations become more expensive over the years. Saidani et al [4] mention some challenges related to new technologies, such as the Internet of Things (IoT), which connects devices with a large number of electrical components, or hybrid vehicles with lithiumion ba...…”

“…According to Saidani et al [11], there are similarities and differences in remanufacturing in the automotive and the heavy vehicle industries; the components and materials are basically the same, but there are differences in regulations and marketing practices. Remanufacturing in the heavy vehicle industry is also less developed than in the automotive industry [4,8].…”

“…However, there are still few studies concerning remanufacturing in the heavy vehicle industry. For example, Saidani et al have written papers regarding the adoption of the circular economy in the heavy vehicle industry [4,8,11]. In addition, Caterpillar is a large international manufacturer of heavy vehicles that has extensive experience in remanufacturing different components [4].…”