European Aluminium welcomes the trilogue agreement on the revision of the End-of-Life Vehicles Directive and the 3R Type-Approval Directive. As aluminium use in vehicles continues to grow—driven by electrification and lightweighting—the introduction of quality requirements for aluminium recovered from end-of-life vehicles marks an important step forward. The agreement strengthens alignment between vehicle design and circular economy objectives while improving Europe’s access to critical raw materials.

Achieving a genuine circular economy and a well-functioning European market for secondary raw materials requires harmonised rules that drive a structural step-change in waste management across the EU. The Waste Framework Directive did not fully address the deep-rooted shortcomings that continue to hinder the efficiency of European waste management systems. The forthcoming Circular Economy Act presents a unique opportunity to correct these deficiencies. European Aluminium therefore calls on the Commission to maintain a strong Internal Market legal basis and to resist attempts to dilute ambition under the pretext of flexibility or national specificities.

European Aluminium calls on EU institutions to include low-carbon aluminium credits—alongside those for low-carbon steel—within the CO₂ standards for cars regulation. Aluminium and steel are both used in significant volumes in vehicles and are largely substitutable in many applications. Limiting credits to low-carbon steel alone risks creating an uneven playing field between materials and incentivising suboptimal component choices. Including low-carbon aluminium in the scope of the regulation is therefore essential for strategic, technological and sustainability reasons.