Global Automotive Recycling Market Size By Type (Passenger Vehicle Recycling, Commercial Vehicle Recycling), By Material (Metal, Polymer), By End User (New Products Manufacturer, Reusable Parts), By Geographic Scope And Forecast

Automotive Recycling Market Size And Forecast

Automotive Recycling Market size was valued at USD 106.77 Billion in 2023 and is projected to reach USD 184.47 Billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 7.19% from 2024 to 2030.

Increasing awareness and sustainability initiatives propelling the market and rising fuel and raw materials prices are the factors driving market growth. The Global Automotive Recycling Market report provides a holistic evaluation of the market. The report offers a comprehensive analysis of key segments, trends, drivers, restraints, competitive landscape, and factors that are playing a substantial role in the market.

What is Automotive Recycling?

So, what is automotive recycling? Basically, it's how we carefully take apart old, junked cars and get all the useful stuff out of them. We're talking about taking rubber, plastics, glass, and metals from these abandoned cars so they don't just end up in landfills. It's a whole processfirst, we collect the end-of-life vehicles (ELVs) and move them to the recycling facility. Then comes the careful disassembly, where we remove any hazardous materials – we call this de-pollution. After that, we shred what's left and separate out all the different materials. Finally, we recover anything valuable and find new uses for it! Think of it as giving car parts a second life. This entire process is all about dismantling vehicles and reusing the spare parts. Many governments around the world see this as a key part of a circular economy. The World Steel Association AISBL says that most cars are made up of metals—steel and iron—making up about 65% to 75% of the car!

So, when it's time for a car to retire, it goes through a recycling journey that's all about being kind to the planet and making the most of its parts. First, these end-of-life vehicles (ELVs) get gathered up from places like scrapyards, car dealerships, and even folks' driveways. Then, they're taken to recycling centers where the real work begins – taking them apart piece by piece. Next comes the de-pollution phasethink of it as a spa day for the environment! All the nasty stuff, like oil, coolant, and transmission fluid, gets drained and recycled. Remember, if you're recycling a car, remove all oils and batteries first! This is super important to keep harmful chemicals out of the environment. After that, the car gets shredded into tiny pieces and sorted using cool gadgets like magnets and air classifiers. These technologies help separate all the different materials so they can be reused.

Okay, so after everything's sorted, the recovered stuff heads to processing for a real clean-up. Metals like steel and aluminum? They get melted down and purified so they can be used to make new things. Plastics are cleaned up, shredded into bits, and melted so they can be used again too. Get this – about 30 million cars are recycled worldwide every year. That gives us around 14 million tons of recycled steel, enough to build 13.5 million brand new vehicles! In North America alone, recycling steel from old cars saves enough energy to power 18 million homes annually. And looking ahead, the Edison Electric Institute (EEI) says there will be 259 million light-duty vehicles in the USA by 2030, with 26.4 million of them being electric. That's a lot of cars!

Global Automotive Recycling Market Overview

So, what's automotive recycling all about? It's basically taking old cars apart to get usable spare parts. When a car's reached the end of the road, it's still got value – all those parts! That's why we have a whole vehicle dismantling industry. But it's not just about the money; it's about keeping things clean too. Recycling cars the right way makes sure nasty stuff like lead-acid batteries, mercury switches, and airbags don't end up polluting the environment. That protects both us and the animals. Plus, there's this thing called Extended Production Responsibility (EPR), which might mean car companies have to use at least 20% recycled metal in their cars from 2026-27.

The driving factors for automotive recycling include the widespread adoption of metal scrap, especially steel, for the manufacturing of more affordable, lightweight, and fuel-efficient vehicles. Automotive recyclers are utilizing advanced tools and methods to recycle used vehicles to extract polymers, fluids, and natural materials that cause minimal damage to the environment. Additionally, rapid growth in industrialization and urbanization in developing nations and increasing consumer awareness drives the Automotive Recycling Market.

Global Automotive Recycling MarketSegmentation Analysis

The Global Automotive Recycling Market is segmented on the Basis of Type, Material, End-Use, and Geography.

Automotive Recycling Market, By Type

• Passenger Vehicle Recycling
• Commercial Vehicle Recycling

To Get a Summarized Market Report By Type-

When we look at the Global Automotive Recycling Market by Type, it's broken down into Passenger Vehicle Recycling and Commercial Vehicle Recycling. And guess what? Passenger Vehicle Recycling was the biggest player in 2022! Why? Well, passenger cars are super recyclable. A lot of times, they're recycled for auto parts. Things like engines, transmissions, and alternators get a second life in other vehicles. Plus, the car's body can be sold as scrap metal, and even the interior gets recycled into upholstery and other materials. This isn't just good for the environment, keeping those car parts out of landfills, but it also helps folks save some cash by offering a more affordable way to get the parts they need.

In India, there are many challenges in the auto recycling industry; one such challenge is the task of an organized recycler to source ELVs. With the dominance of the unorganized sector (as they are located in almost every major hub), for an organized recycler, to get a regular inflow of vehicles is a huge task. It needs to be managed very proactively.

At this time, the used parts industry is very dynamic. On average, brands such as Volvo, Toyota, Audi, and BMW launch new vehicle models every 14 months, which means there is a revision of around 30% of the old models and this revision involves used parts. One of the biggest challenges will be to supply all spare parts from ELVs to the second-hand market because the demand is decreasing with younger models of vehicles on the roads and older vehicles becoming fewer.

The next challenge relates to carbon fiber, and reinforced plastics (CFRP). At the last International Automobile Recycling Congress (IARC), held in Berlin, the focus was on new materials being used in today’s vehicles and how the increased amount of mixed-use plastics may pose challenges to recyclers and dismantlers for ELVs. The increased use of plastic and plastic composite includes carbon fibre, and reinforced plastics (CFRP), and the goal is to make cars lighter and also more fuel-efficient. Though it is good for the industry, in terms of recycling recovery, it reduces the recovery value.

Automotive Recycling Market, By Material

• Metal
• Polymer
• Others

To Get a Summarized Market Report By Material-

When it comes to what cars are made of, the Global Automotive Recycling Market is broken down into metal, polymer, and a few others. And get thismetal made up the biggest chunk of the market back in 2022! Now, when we talk about metals in car recycling, we're really talking about two main kindsferrous and non-ferrous. Ferrous metals, like steel, are the ones with iron in them. Non-ferrous metals, on the other hand, like aluminum, copper, and zinc, don't have any iron. Since ferrous metals are super common in things like car bodies, frames, and engine parts, they're usually the most recycled stuff from end-of-life vehicles (ELVs). Even though non-ferrous metals aren't used as much, they're actually worth more and are in high demand because you find them in fancy electrical and electronic parts like batteries, wiring, and sensors.

So, when a car reaches the end of its life, automotive recycling basically goes through four key steps. First, there's dismantling, which is like taking the car apart to grab all the good stuff – think tires, wheels, seats, even the stereo! They also drain all the fluids. Then comes crushing, where they squeeze the hulk down into smaller pieces to make it easier to move around. Next up is shredding – picture giant rotating hammers or blades chopping the crushed car into tiny bits. Finally, there's material recovery, where they use all sorts of cool tech like magnets, eddy currents, even lasers and infrared, to separate the metal from things like plastics, rubber, and glass. By the way, the Automotive Recycling Market is expected to get really big soon because there are more and more old cars out there, people are caring more about the environment, the rules are getting tougher, and some of the metals used in cars are getting hard to find.

Did you know that steel and iron are super important for making cars? The American Iron and Steel Institute says they make up about 65% of the average vehicle! And get thisabout 90% of the steel and iron in old cars gets recycled. Steel cans are recycling rockstars too – they're the most recycled food and drink containers out there! Some countries, like South Africa, Japan, and Belgium, recycle up to 93% of them. What's really cool is that when steel gets recycled (steel-to-steel recycling), that old can could become something totally different later on, like a bridge, a car, or even a ship! Steel is 100% recyclable without losing any of its strength. Plus, because it's magnetic, we can even grab it back after it's been burned. Recycled steel is just as tough and reliable as new steel. During the recycling process, they even take out any reusable parts, and the leftover car bodies go to special scrap processors.

Okay, so once those old cars are weighed and emptied out, they head into the shredder. It's like a giant processor that breaks them down into three pilesiron and steel, other metals (like aluminum or copper), and "fluff"—that's basically all the fabric, rubber, and glass. The iron and steel get grabbed by magnets and sent off to be recycled, which is pretty awesome because we recycle almost 14 million tons of steel from old cars every year! That's like taking about 13.5 million cars and completely recycling them – a 100% recycling rate! And get thisyour average car is mostly steel and iron—about 65% of its weight. Even the car's body is around 25% recycled steel. So, all this recycling doesn't just save energy and resources; it shows how important steel is in cars for strength, lasting a long time, and, well, being easy to recycle. Learn more about steel recycling here.

Automotive Recycling Market, By End-Use

• New Products Manufacturer
• Reusable Parts

When it comes to what happens with recycled cars, it breaks down into two main pathsmaking brand new stuff or finding reusable parts. In 2022, most of the action was in creating new products. Auto recyclers are like treasure hunters, carefully pulling out valuable bits like engines, transmissions, doors, and bumpers to give them a second life in other cars. But that's not all! Things like starters, alternators, and water pumps can be remanufactured, too. Then there are the batteries, catalytic converters, tires, and some plastics – they get a new beginning as recycled materials for fresh products. Even the fluids, like engine oil and coolant, get special treatmentthey're stored super safely in double-walled tanks (just in case!) before being reused or recycled. Once the car is stripped bare, it heads off to a shredding facility. These places are seriously high-tech! The shredder basically turns the car into fist-sized chunks, which then zoom along conveyors to some seriously smart separation gadgets. We're talking magnetic separation, eddy current, and even lasers and infrared systems! All that recovered metal then becomes raw material for steel mills, electric arc furnaces, and smelters for aluminum and other metals, which use it to make all sorts of things, including – you guessed it – new cars!

When cars reach the end of the road, it's not really "the end." We can recycle a ton of the stuff they're made of! For example, the metals we pull out are often melted down and reborn as new steel and aluminum. These aren't just for cars, either; you'll find them in manufacturing, infrastructure, and construction. Even things like nylon from carpets and seats get a new life as fabrics in e.g. home furnishings, clothes, and accessories. And those old tires? They get shredded and find their way into rubberized asphalt for roads, bouncy athletic tracks, safe playground surfaces, and even your shoes! Finally, with all these electric vehicles popping up, recycling their lithium-ion batteries is a must. We can use those recycled materials to make new batteries or even big energy storage systems.

Automotive Recycling Market, By Geography

• North America
• Europe
• Asia Pacific
• Middle East and Africa
• Latin America

On the basis of Regional Analysis, the Global Automotive Recycling Market is classified into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa, and Latin America. North America is expected to hold the largest market share of Automotive Recycling in the forecast period followed by Europe.

Key Players

The “Global Automotive Recycling Market” study report will provide valuable insight with an emphasis on the global market including some of the major players are Toyota, LKQ Corporation, Sims Limited, Schnitzer Steel Industries, Inc., Scholz Recycling GmbH, Tianqi Automation Engineering Limited, Eco-bat Technologies, Hensel Recycling Group, KEIAISHA CO., LTD, Indra automobile recycling and others.

Our market analysis also entails a section solely dedicated to such major players wherein our analysts provide an insight into the financial statements of all the major players, along with Coating Type benchmarking and SWOT analysis.

Report Scope