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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

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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 the 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.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the support of the Fulbright Commission and the Institute of International Education to make possible this study through a research collaboration between the University of California-Davis, in the U.S., and CentraleSupélec, Université Paris-Saclay, in France. The authors also thank all the industrialists who not only took the time to go over or experiment our proposed benchmarking template but also provided insightful comments on it. Last but not least, the authors would like to thank the two reviewers for their insightful comments and valuable suggestions, including complementary information and additional relevant references that have been analyzed and incorporated, to augment the quality and content of this research work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire Genie Industriel, CentraleSupélec, Université Paris-Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France

    Michael Saidani, Bernard Yannou, Yann Leroy & François Cluzel

  2. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California-Davis, Davis, CA, USA

    Alissa Kendall

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  1. Michael Saidani
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Correspondence to Michael Saidani.

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Saidani, M., Kendall, A., Yannou, B. et al. 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. J Mater Cycles Waste Manag 21, 1449–1461 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10163-019-00897-3

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