Resource usage, waste and recycling in the automotive industry
Signatories to SMMT’s Sustainability Report monitor a variety of resource uses relating to automotive production, including
- Energy use per vehicle produced
- Water use per vehicle produced
- CO2 equivalents per vehicle produced
- Proportion of waste to landfill
Our data covers 99% of all cars and commercial vehicles produced in the UK, as well as those that supply the automotive industry and those that import vehicles for sale.
Many automotive manufacturers also invest heavily in on-site renewables – with almost a quarter of all energy used by signatories coming from clean energy generated on their own sites.
Waste Management
Less than 1% of material leftover from original equipment manufacturing processes goes to landfill. Zero waste to landfill is the ultimate aim for the automotive industry and many manufacturers have achieved this already. The vast majority of leftover materials from production are reused or recycled, with the remainder going to recovery (including waste to energy) and incineration.
Vehicle Recycling
The automotive industry is one of the world’s most prolific recyclers, recovering metals and non-metallic parts from vehicles that have reached the end of their use to build the next generation of cars, vans, trucks and buses.
Vehicle recycling is governed by the End of Life Vehicle (ELV) Directive, which calls for 95% of a vehicle’s weight to be reused, recycled or recovered.
VMs have an obligation to provide free take-back for cars and light commercial vehicles, for disposal through an Authorised Treatment Facility. Details are available on each manufacturer’s website.
On the behalf of industry, SMMT has an agreement with Autogreen to cover recycling of vehicles from brands no longer commercially active in the UK.
- Abarth
- Alfa Romeo
- Audi
- Bentley
- BMW Group UK
- Chrysler [contact Fiat Chrysler UK]
- Citroen
- CUPRA UK
- DS Automotive
- Fiat
- Ford Motor Company
- Honda
- Hyundai
- Jaguar
- Jeep
- Land Rover
- LEVC
- Lexus
- Lotus
- Mazda
- Mercedes-Benz Cars UK Limited
- Mercedes-Benz Vans UK Limited
- Mercedes-Benz Trucks UK Limited
- Mercedes buses
- smart
- Mitsubishi Motors
- Nissan Motor Manufacturing
- Peugeot
- Porsche
- Renault
- Renault Trucks
- SEAT
- Skoda
- Subaru
- Suzuki
- Toyota
- Vauxhall
- Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles
- Volkswagen Passenger Cars
- Volvo Cars
Battery Recycling
Battery recycling is a crucial industry, vital for both the safe disposal of conventional vehicles batteries, and the larger power sources used by electrified vehicles to deliver zero emission mobility.
Under the 2009 Waste Batteries and Accumulators regulation, vehicle owners can dispose of their waste batteries free of charge. It is illegal to dispose of waste industrial or automotive batteries by landfill or incineration.
Each manufacturer provides its own arrangements for battery recycling, and a growing number of specialist battery recycling firms are SMMT members, recovering rare earths and materials from existing batteries for repurposing into new EV batteries and industrial power storage.