Contact person
Annika Boss
Forskare
Contact AnnikaCIRCUS - Circular use of plastic in the automotive industry
Which plastic car parts can be reused, and which parts can be material recycled into new car parts in a safe and resource-efficient way? These are important questions for the automotive industry, questions that are addressed in the CIRCUS project.
The European Commission presented 2023 the proposal for a new End-of-Life Vehicle (ELV) regulation. The proposal places demands on the automotive industry to use post-consumer recycled plastic (PCR) in new cars and to recycle 30% of the plastic from scrapped cars. According to the last revision of the ELV regulation in June 2025; 20% of the plastic in new vehicles must be recycled and 15% of this must be circular recycled, i.e. 3% of the total plastic must come from ELV through a closed-loop recycling system. The ELV regulation will be gradually implemented 2026 - 2031. An important update in the last revision is that the ELV-regulation now apply to all vehicle categories: Passenger cars, trucks, buses and motor cycles.
The CIRCUS project addresses reuse and recycling of automotive plastic parts. The project started in December 2023 and will go on for 2 years and four month. RISE leads the project with 15 partners in the automotive industry, component manufactures, dismantlers/workshops, recyclers, suppliers of recycled plastic and trade associations.
In the project, plastic car parts are evaluated for dismantling, re-use and material recycling respectively. The plastics quality is analyzed. Design for circular material use is part of the project as well as cost-income calculations for circular business models and environmental system analyses.
A close collaboration between key players in the value chain of vehicles are essential to be able to comply with the new ELV regulation.
Summary
Project name
CIRCUS
Status
Active
RISE role in project
Coordinator and research partner
Project start
Duration
2 years and 4 month
Total budget
6 475 401 SEK
Partner
Volvo Personvagnar , Polestar , IAC Group, Plasman, KB Components , MOCOM, Rondo Plast , BASF , BilRetur , Sveriges Bilåtervinnares Riksförbund , Stena Recycling , Mobility Sweden , Jönköpings Bildemontering , Walters Bildelar , Eklunds Bildelslager
Funders
FFI - Fordonstrategisk Forskning och Innovation
Project members
Annika Boss Alexander Wahlberg Birgit Brunklaus Adriana Angelaccio-Osbeck Fredrik P Bergfeldt Jamilla Nilsson
Supports the UN sustainability goals
9. Industry, innovation and infrastructure
12. Responsible consumption and production
13. Climate action
