Framework for sustainable management of end-of-life vehicles management in India

Automobile manufacturing requires different metals-steel, aluminium, copper, lead, chromium, nickel and zinc, as well as significant amounts of plastic, glass, rubber and fabric. Analyzing the direct and indirect raw material requirements in the Indian automotive sector during the period 1997–2007, it was found that the material requirement of the sector doubled in a period of 10 years [1]. End of Life Vehicles (ELVs) can also be an important source of secondary raw materials, such as metal and other materials, which if salvaged and/or reused/recycled, can be again fed into the economy thereby helping to close the loop of sustainable resource circulation and reducing the demand for virgin raw materials. Estimates suggest that steel scrap worth INR 115 billion can be generated in India from retired vehicles (that include two wheelers, three wheelers, private cars, commercial passenger and commercial goods vehicles) [2]. In this paper, the authors attempt to use the shared responsibility based framework to explore and develop a business model with a structure of stakeholder engagement for improving sustainability of ELV management in India. The management of end of life vehicles in the country has significant scope for improvements in material recovery and the proposed shared responsibility based framework can help in this context.