USE OF RECYCLED AND GREEN MATERIALS
Recycled materials
Recycled products meet the same technical specifications as new ones. Their thermal and mechanical longevity guarantee optimum quality and performance.
Green materials
Thanks to their very high level of quality, green materials can now be used in Citroën vehicles for both hidden and visible parts.
IMPLEMENTATION OF CIRCULAR ECONOMY LOOPS
Citroën aims to fully recycle its end-of-life vehicles. An automotive life cycle analysis process has therefore been implemented. It consists of measuring all of the environmental impacts of vehicles, from their design to their destruction. It makes it possible to evaluate and better choose the materials for future cars.
ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT OF END-OF-LIFE VEHICLES
7 steps to recycle a vehicle
For nearly twenty years, the Citroën network has set up an organization to ensure the collection and processing of End-of-Life Vehicles (ELV) under favorable environmental conditions. Recycling a car involves 7 steps.
STEP 1: RECOVERY
The last owner of the vehicle at the end of its life brings it to an approved recovery centre. After checking the vehicle, the authorized recovery center issues the mandatory certificate of destruction (CoD).
STEP 2: PRE-TREATMENT AND DEPOLLUTION
The battery and the tires are removed. The airbags are deactivated. Our partner then removes the residual fuel and other fluids from the vehicle: engine oil, transmission oil, brake fluid and air conditioning coolant. This polluting waste will then be 100% recovered within their specific treatment sector.
STEP 3: DISASSEMBLY FOR REUSE
The next step consists of dismantling mechanical or bodywork parts, electrical or electronic components to reuse them as second-hand parts or recondition them. If economically viable, materials such as plastic or glass are also collected for recycling at this stage.
STEP 4: STORAGE
Environmentally hazardous materials are recovered and sent to companies specializing in the recovery or destruction of waste.
STEP 5: GRINDING
The decontaminated carcasses are sent to a crusher which crushes them and shreds them into pieces of a few centimeters on each side and which carries out an initial magnetic sorting in order to recover the ferrous metals (steel).
STEP 6: POST-GRIND
The shredder residues are sorted by automated processes using the physical properties of the material (magnets, eddy current, flotation) to obtain different types of material fractions.
STEP 7: RECYCLING, RECOVERY AND LANDFILL
The fractions of materials, once sorted, are subject to material recycling (metals in steelworks/metallurgy, certain plastics in plastics) or energy recovery (cement plant, district heating plant, power station, etc.). This industrial process makes it possible to reuse, recycle and recover more than 95% of a vehicle's weight, which greatly reduces the share of final residues then sent to specialized landfill sites.
RECYCLING YOUR CITROËN
End of life vehicle take-back program
Respect for the environment has always been at the center of our concerns. Today, the recycling of end-of-life vehicles has become a legal obligation. Thus, all Citroën vehicles at the end of their life must be taken back free of charge from the last owner, if they meet certain conditions (listed below).
To ensure that your vehicle is recycled in the most environmentally friendly way possible, we have commissioned independent experts. They check that vehicle returns are carried out in accordance with the legislation in force. They also certify that our Partners fulfill all legal obligations in terms of recycling. Thus, in each of their establishments, all processes and documents related to inflows and outflows must comply with Citroën's requirements.
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT BY DESIGN
To ensure that all Citroën products meet recycling requirements, the research and development teams follow recyclability and reuse procedures.
Also used by suppliers, they also help to analyze vehicle parts and components according to their recyclability and possible reuse.
The conditions for a sustainable design are:
- A selection of sustainable materials;
- A design designed for depollution;
- A design designed for deconstruction.
CONDITIONS FOR RETURNING YOUR VEHICLE
The free take-back of your Citroën vehicle at the end of its life is possible if:
- The vehicle has a maximum of 9 seats or is a utility vehicle weighing less than 3.5 tonnes;
- The vehicle is registered in France;
- The essential parts are present on the vehicle;
- The vehicle does not contain any waste;
- The original vehicle papers are returned at the same time as the vehicle.
VEHICLE LIFE CYCLE
From design to destruction
DEVELOPMENT
- Life cycle assessment
- Selection of sustainable materials
PRODUCTION
- Use of recycled materials
USE
- Management and disposal of waste at the authorized repairer
- Reuse and refurbishment of spare parts
REPRISE
- Trade-in of vehicles
- Depollution and pre-treatment
- Application of the European Directive
RECOVERY NETWORK
Where to recycle your vehicle?
If you own a car at the end of its life, take it to one of our approved recycling centres.
In addition to the certificate of destruction, they will give you all the documents necessary for the deregistration of your vehicle in the prefecture. You will be able to leave knowing that it will be destroyed in an ecological way.
