National foreword

This Published Document is the UK implementation of CEN/TS 18084:2025.

The UK participation in its preparation was entrusted to Technical Committee AUE/0.

A list of organizations represented on this committee can be obtained on request to its committee manager.

Contractual and legal considerations

This publication has been prepared in good faith, however no representation, warranty, assurance or undertaking (express or implied) is or will be made, and no responsibility or liability is or will be accepted by BSI in relation to the adequacy, accuracy, completeness or reasonableness of this publication. All and any such responsibility and liability is expressly disclaimed to the full extent permitted by the law.

This publication is provided as is, and is to be used at the recipient’s own risk.

The recipient is advised to consider seeking professional guidance with respect to its use of this publication.

This publication is not intended to constitute a contract. Users are responsible for its correct application.

This publication is not to be regarded as a British Standard.

Compliance with a Published Document cannot confer immunity from legal obligations.

This Published Document was published under the authority of the Standards Policy and Strategy Committee on 31 July 2025.

This Technical Specification (CEN/TS) was approved by CEN on 16 June 2025 for provisional application.

The period of validity of this CEN/TS is limited initially to three years. After two years the members of CEN will be requested to submit their comments, particularly on the question whether the CEN/TS can be converted into a European Standard.

CEN members are required to announce the existence of this CEN/TS in the same way as for an EN and to make the CEN/TS available promptly at national level in an appropriate form. It is permissible to keep conflicting national standards in force (in parallel to the CEN/TS) until the final decision about the possible conversion of the CEN/TS into an EN is reached.

CEN members are the national standards bodies of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye and United Kingdom.

European foreword

This document (CEN/TS 18084:2025) has been prepared by Technical Committee CEN/TC 301 “Road vehicles”, the secretariat of which is held by DIN.

Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of patent rights. CEN shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.

This document has been prepared under a standardization request addressed to CEN by the European Commission. The Standing Committee of the EFTA States subsequently approves these requests for its Member States.

Any feedback and questions on this document should be directed to the users’ national standards body. A complete listing of these bodies can be found on the CEN website.

According to the CEN/CENELEC Internal Regulations, the national standards organisations of the following countries are bound to announce this Technical Specification: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye and the United Kingdom.

Introduction

This document covers plastic products and components used in the vehicles falling under the scope of the European Directive on End-of-Life Vehicles (ELV Directive) (2000/53/EC) and the European Directive on motor vehicle reusability, recyclability and recoverability (Type 3R Directive) (2005/64/EC).

The usage of plastics in vehicles’ components has grown to answer sustainability and fuel-efficiency requirements mandated by national and international legislations and driven internally by many industry stakeholders, to a point where, in absolute terms, plastics became a targeted material for specific waste management recovery operations. The recommendations in this document aim at increasing the recyclability of plastics used in vehicles and the recycling rates from end-of-life vehicles, considering that, on average, plastics account for 14 % to 18 % [1] of the overall weight (1200 kg on average) of Type M1 vehicles.

Manufacturers are required by Union law to place on the market vehicles that are at least 85 % reusable and recyclable and 95 % recoverable [2] [3]. For the recycling of plastic waste these targets lag behind. This can be explained by high technical requirements for plastic automotive parts, which can lead to specifications that make those plastics more challenging to recycle. Notwithstanding existing technical and performance constraints, this document provides automotive engineers with design recommendations to enhance the recyclability of the plastic products and components when the vehicle reaches its end-of-life, hence maximizing the recovery rate and the value of the plastics fraction after the vehicle's shredding, in line with the sustainability requirements stemming from existing and upcoming EU legislation [4].

Due to the diversity of infrastructure across European ELV recycling facilities and the variety of end-of-life scenarios, a vehicle designed today could be recycled in ten or fifteen years at a facility equipped with the bare minimum tooling systems or at a large-scale state-of-the-art shredding and post shredder recycling facility.

When implemented, these recommendations can ensure that materials specified on new vehicles can be efficiently recycled using available post shredder technology infrastructure.

The post shredder technologies are an interesting option for recycling more of the plastics used in vehicles. However, these technologies deserve to be better known by designers, as they require implications for the design of parts. For a better understanding of the post shredder technologies, see Annex A.

1 Scope

This document specifies recommendations for the design of polymeric products used in road vehicles to facilitate separation and recycling after shredding.

This document is not applicable to dismantling of road vehicles and removal of parts and components.

This document is not applicable to elastomers.

2 Normative references

3 Terms, definitions and abbreviations

3.1 Terms and definitions

3.2 Abbreviations

4 Recommendations

4.1 Single constituent polymers or polymer blends

4.2 Bonded materials and material compatibility

4.3 Composite materials

4.4 Painted materials

4.5 Thermosets

4.6 Biodegradable materials

Bibliography

PD CEN/TS 18084:2025

Road vehicles. Post Shredder Technology recycling. Design recommendations for plastic products

Current

Published:

31 Jul 2025