Development Bank of Japan
Research Report
No. 41

Prospects and Challenges for End-of-Life
Vehicle Recycling

May 2003

Economic and Industrial Research Department
Development Bank of Japan

This report was originally published in Japanese as Chosa No. 36
in March 2002.

Contents
Summary ............................................................................................................................................... iii
I

Developments Surrounding the Automobile Recycling Law and Their Background ............. 1
1. Foreword .................................................................................................................................. 1
2. Background of the Introduction of the Automobile Recycling Law........................................ 1
2.1 Automobiles as Post-Consumer Waste............................................................................. 1
2.2 Development of the Practice of Charging for Accepting End-of-Life Vehicles............... 2
3. Overview of the Automobile Recycling Law .......................................................................... 7
3.1 Intent of the Automobile Recycling Law ......................................................................... 7
3.2 Recycling of the Three Designated Materials .................................................................. 7
3.3 Envisioned Processing and Disposal Framework .......................................................... 10
3.4 Other Related Activities and Efforts .............................................................................. 10
4. Impacts of End-of-Life Vehicle Recycling ............................................................................ 12II

Trends in End-of-Life Vehicle Recycling in European Countries ........................................... 16
1. Overview of the ELV Directive ............................................................................................. 16
2. End-of-Life Vehicle Recycling in The Netherlands and the ELV Directive .......................... 19
2.1 The Netherlands’ End-of-Life Vehicle Recycling System ............................................. 19
2.2 Overview of The Netherlands’ Automobile Recycling Framework .............................. 19
2.3 Background of The Netherlands’ Success...................................................................... 20
2.4 Future Prospects of the New Framework ....................................................................... 22
3. End-of-Life Vehicle Recycling in Germany and the ELV Directive...................................... 23
3.1 History of End-of-Life Vehicle Recycling Efforts in Germany ..................................... 23
3.2 Development of Processing and Disposal Infrastructure in Germany ........................... 26
3.3 Problems......................................................................................................................... 30
3.4 The New Framework under the ELV Directive ............................................................. 32
3.5 Impacts of the New Framework ..................................................................................... 34
3.6 Future Challenges........................................................................................................... 35

III Automobile Recycling and Environmental Industries ............................................................. 36
1. Comparison between Automobile Recycling Measures in Japan and European Countries... 36
1.1 Comparison between the Japanese Framework and the Dutch andGerman Frameworks ...................................................................................................... 36
1.2 Common Challenges between Japan and European Countries ...................................... 37
2. Automobile Recycling Law and Environmental Industries ................................................... 39
2.1 Major Approaches to Development of Technologies for
End-of-Life Vehicle Recycling....................................................................................... 39
2.2 Approach Toward More Sophisticated ASR Processing................................................ 40
2.3 Comparison of Technologies Toward More Sophisticated ASR Processing ................. 42
2.4 Efforts Toward More Sophisticated Dismantling........................................................... 43
2.5 Recycling of Automobile Glasses as Sheet Glasses....................................................... 44
2.6 Recycling Efforts by Automobile Manufacturers .......................................................... 44
3. Afterword............................................................................................................................... 46
References ............................................................................................................................................ 47

Development Bank of Japan Research Report/ No. 41iProspects and Challenges for End-of-Life Vehicle Recycling
Summary
1. The number of vehicles in Japan has increased roughly ten-fold over the past 30 years
and now exceeds 70 million. The number of newvehicles sold and registered has generally increased over the same period albeit with somefluctuations related to economic climate and iscurrently around 6 million per year. The numberof vehicles deregistered (end-of-life vehicles),calculated from the number of vehicles in Japanand the number of vehicles sold and registered, iscurrently around 5 million per year. As the domestic automobile market is mature with most of
the demand arising from replacement needs, theannual number of vehicles becoming end-of-life
vehicles is expected to remain at the current levelin the mid-term.
2. Automobiles have been recycled with arelatively high recycling ratio of 75 to 80% by
weight (average recycling ratio of industrial
waste: about 40%), because they are mostly
made of metals, which are valuable materials.
However, due to changes in the industry environment in the 1990s including sharp rises infinal disposal costs and falling scrap prices, thevalue of end-of-life vehicles as a resource has
fallen, and this has led to the introduction of
charging for accepting end-of-life vehicles
throughout the entire flow of end-of-life vehicle
trading. This development has resulted in various
problems such as increased illegal dumping andinappropriate disposal.
With regard to end-of-life vehicles, theautomotive and related industries have been
making voluntary efforts since 1997 to improve
the recycling ratio and reduce the final disposal
volume. To encourage these activities, introduction of an automobile recycling law is currently
being planned. The proposed law envisions amechanism in which auto manufacturers are responsible for disposing of the automobile shredder residue (ASR), chlorofluorocarbons, and airbags and collect the disposal costs by charging a
fee to all purchasers of a new vehicle, thereby

achieving a recycling ratio of 95% by weight by
the year 2015.
3. With the impending introduction of theautomobile recycling law, various technologicaldevelopment efforts are being made to increase
processing efficiency. These development efforts
focus on 1) technological development to enhance ASR processing and 2) reducing the volume of ASR produced. The former aims to improve recycling both in terms of materials andthermal energy with given conditions of volumeof ASR produced and ASR composition, and isbeing pursued by ASR processing companies,
nonferrous metal refining companies, and engineering-oriented manufacturers. In particular,
Japanese technologies for “gasification melting”
ASR are ahead of those of other countries andattracting international attention. The latter areaof technological development concerns reducing
the volume of ASR produced by enhancing dismantling and processing, and is being pursued byautomobile dismantling companies and materials
manufacturers. In addition, automobile manufacturers are creating more recycling-oriented
designs and using more reusable parts, whichshould work synergistically with efforts to improve processing technologies.
4. In Europe, an EU Directive on End-of-Life
Vehicles (ELV Directive) entered into force in
October 2000. The Directive focuses on 1) ensuring free-of-charge acceptance of end-of-life
vehicles from their last owners, 2) setting target
recycling rates, 3) regulating the use of hazardous substances, and 4) monitoring.
The Member States are now establishingdomestic legislation to implement the Directive,
but their approaches and challenges vary. The
Netherlands had already established a pioneering
recycling system based on free-of-charge acceptance of end-of-life vehicles from their last owners and rigorous monitoring before the Directive
was adopted, and the fully-computerized system
has been working efficiently. Therefore, the institutional effects of introducing domestic legislation to implement the ELV Directive are small
Development Bank of Japan Research Report/ No. 41iii

in the Netherlands, but the country has yet to establish a sound ASR processing technology to
improve its recycling ratio, which is leveling off
at around 86%.
In Germany, the total number of vehicles isslightly above 50 million, and the domestic market is mature. The estimated average registeredlife of a vehicle in Germany is about 12 years,
and approximately 3.5 million vehicles (about
7% of the total stock) are deregistered annually.
Before the ELV Directive, the government wastrying to promote recycling of end-of-life vehicles by 1) voluntary control efforts by auto
manufacturers and 2) an end-of-life vehicle ordinance that channels end-of-life vehicles todismantling and shredding companies for processing. However, resistance among last owners
to the vehicle disposal fee, coupled with steadydemands for German used vehicles from Central
and Eastern European countries, led to a rise ininappropriate processing/disposal through misuseof the temporary deregistration system and increased end-of-life vehicle exports, which reduced the domestic processing/disposal companies’ capacity utilization factors to uneconomic
levels. Therefore, the German Government isgoing to overhaul the existing systems as part of
implementing the ELV Directive through its domestic legislation, including 1) strengthening theauto manufacturer participation system (to ensure free-of-charge acceptance of end-of-life vehicles), 2) provision of stronger incentives for

manufacturers to pursue recycling-oriented design, and 3) registration system reforms. Technological challenges such as establishing sound
ASR processing technology will likely become
the central issue in the near future as the numberof end-of-life vehicles processed domesticallyincreases.
5. Japan’s new automobile recycling framework will also be a modification of the existing
one, because there is a relatively strong incentive
to recover resources from automobiles comparedwith other products. The future path of the Japanese automobile recycling industry and those ofEuropean countries will be similar in that once
the framework for recycling flow for end-of-life
vehicles is established, ASR will become a significant technological challenge because ofprocessing difficulties, even though the volumeof ASR produced will be limited. Technologicaldevelopment is underway in many fields to makeprocessing and disposal more efficient, and thesophisticated processing technologies that will be
developed in the automobile recycling industry,
which is at the heart of Japan’s post-consumer
waste recycling industries, will likely be applied
to other post-consumer waste recycling industries, thus dramatically raising the standard of
those industries. It is hoped that future efforts todesign, refine, and manage new institutional arrangements and systems will facilitate these developments.

[Takako Naito (e-mail:tanaito@dbj.go.jp)][Keisuke Takegahara (e-mail:ketakeg@dbj.go.jp)]

iv

Development Bank of Japan Research Report/ No. 41

I Developments Surrounding theAutomobile Recycling Law and
Their Background1.

Foreword

In Japan, the proposed Automobile Recycling
Law is being discussed with a view to enacting
the Law by 2004. End-of-life vehicle recyclingin Japan has been conducted within the framework of the “End-of-Life Vehicle Recycling
Initiative1” (a voluntary initiative by the automotive and related industries started in May
1997; see Table 1-1) and has made good progress, but the Law will stimulate greater efforts
within the framework. The planned introductionof the Law is partly a response to recentchanges in domestic economic conditions thathave so far supported automobile recycling inJapan and new policies relating to vehicle recy-cling in European countries, which are important markets for Japan’s automobile industry.
This Chapter starts with an analysis of the domestic developments that triggered the moves
to improve the automobile recycling system.
2.

Background of the Introduction of theAutomobile Recycling Law

2.1

Automobiles as Post-Consumer Waste

In Japan, systems for implementing recycling
policies are rapidly being developed, such as
the enactment in 2000 of the Basic Law for
Promotion of the Formation of a Cyclical Society. With regard to “post-consumer waste”(PCW) that is by definition disposed of after
being owned by a consumer, such as containerand packaging materials and household appliances, the concept of “extended producer responsibility” (EPR)2, under which the manu-

Table 1-1 Numerical Targets Defined under the End-of-Life Vehicle Recycling Initiative
Newly produced vehicles
End-of-life vehicles
Landfill disposal volume

From 2002
Expected recycling ratio of 90% or more
Recycling ratio of 85% or moreThree-fifths of the 1996 figure or less

From 2015
Recycling ratio of 95% or more
One-fifth of the 1996 figure or lessQuantity of lead used

By the end of 2000
One-half of the 1996 figure or lessBy the end of 2005
One-third of the 1996 figure or less

Source: Industrial Structure Council data.
2

1This is an initiative primarily aimed at (1) reducing
hazardous substances, (2) reducing automobile shredder
residue volume and improving the automobile recycling
ratio, (3) making the existing processing and disposal flow
more effective and sophisticated, (4) improving the efficiency of processing and disposal by using the market
mechanism, and (5) defining the roles of the interested
parties more clearly. The numerical targets are as shown in
Figure 1-1.

Extended Product Responsibility (EPR) is a conceptthat extends the definition of the term “polluter” to include
upstream businesses such as manufacturers, processors,and marketers, and is defined as “an environmental policy
approach that extends the producer’s physical and/or economic responsibility for its products up to thepost-consumption stages of their life cycle (Extended
Producer Responsibility – A Guidance Manual for Governments, 2001, OECD). EPR policy measures include thecollection of products by manufacturers and retailers after
consumption, deposit refund, pre-payment of processing
costs, raw material taxes, the setting of standards for theuse of recyclable materials in products, product lease(whereby products are made available under contract tothe consumer without transfer of ownership), and productservicization (whereby functions rather than physicalproducts are sold to the consumer).
In Japan, this concept has been introduced through the
Basic Law for Promotion of the Formation of a CyclicalSociety enacted in 2000 as mentioned above. In terms ofarea-specificlaws,
institutionalframeworks
forpost-consumer waste recycling have been established and
PCW recycling systems based on the concept of EPR are
being introduced under the Container and Packaging Recycling Law which fully entered into force in 2000 and theHome Appliance Recycling Law which entered into force in
2001.

Development Bank of Japan Research Report/ No. 41

1

facturers and distributors bear part of the responsibility to collect and recycle PCW, hasbeen reflected in various forms and degrees
depending on the type of goods.
The EPR concept of expanding the definition of the term “polluter” to effectively implement the Polluter Pays Principle (PPP),
which is a basic principle in environmental
protection, in the domain of PCW, has becomea major trend mainly in European countries
after it was first introduced in Germany in1991 for container and packaging materials.
This change is also being reflected in Japanesepolicies in such areas as recycling and environmental protection. Automobiles as postconsumer waste are a special category because
1) they have a large and complex structure, 2)
they are expensive and have a long service life,and 3) the automobile industry has a muchwider range of related industries than otherconsumer goods industries. As European examples presented later will show, the designing and introduction of EPR measures forautomobiles are one of the most important issues in recycling policy.
However, both in Japan and overseas, discussions on developing recycling policies for
end-of-life vehicles started only very recently.
This is because automobiles inherently

have a high resource value (approximately 70%
of an automobile by weight is steel) and thus
have normally been traded as valuable goods asshown in Figure 1-1, with an average recycling
ratio of 75 to 80% as shown in Figure 1-2,
which is very much higher than those of othergoods, even under the traditional recycling
framework based on voluntary control.
2.2 Development of the Practice of Charging for Accepting End-of-Life Vehicles
A legal framework and policy measures to recycle, as PCW, end-of-life vehicles, which had
been traded in the market as valuable goods,
became necessary because the traditional voluntary control-based framework was inadequate,
and because the significant environmental impacts of illegal dumping and inappropriate
processing and disposal required Government
action. Among the many causes of these problems, sharp rises in final disposal costs and falling scrap prices are the dominant ones in Japan.
In the past, shredding companies, which arelocated downstream in the recycling flow, used
to make good profits by buying end-of-life vehicles (non-reusable components of spent vehicles)from dismantlers, shredding them, and then re-User, distributor, etc.
End-of-life vehicle(valuable post-consumer waste)

Approx. 1,000 yen/vehicle
Reusable components

Operating costs

Dismantler

Non-reusable
components(valuable materials)

Operating costs

Revenue from sale
Approx. 1,000 yen/vehicle

Shredding company

Steel, non-ferrous metals, etc.
Revenue from sale

Shredder residue(industrial waste)

Approx. 2,000 yen/vehicle

Stable waste disposal[Note]

Figure 1-1

Material flow
Money flow

Example of Flow of End-of-Life Vehicle Disposal with
Stable Shredder Residue Landfilling

Source: Togawa, “Automobile and Recycling.”

2

Development Bank of Japan Research Report/ No. 41

E n d -o f-life v eh icle exp o rt

5 millio n e n d o f-life v e h ic le s(a p p ro x. 50,000)

R e p a ir & s e rv ic e
g a ra g e s

1)(2 0 t o 3 0 % )(2 0 t o 3 0 % )R e c y c la ble
co m p o n en t s(1 5 % )R e c y c le a s

B o dy sh e ll
( o ut e r sh e ll)(5 5 t o 6 5 % )2)(a p p ro x. 80,000)

4)Ille g a l d u mp in g
(a p p ro x. 20,000 v e h ic le s )M u n ic ip a lit ie s

3)m a t e r ia ls(5 0 t o 5 5 % )R ec y c lin g ratio : 7 5 to 8 0 %La s t o w n e r

4 millio ne n d -o f-lifev e h ic le sR e use a s
co m p o n en t s(ap p ro x. 1 4 0 )S p e c ia lize d u s e d
c a r re t a ile rs

R e usa ble
co m p o n en t s

S h red d in g co m p an ies

D e a le rs(a p p ro x. 18,000)

D ism a ntle rs (a pprox. 5,000)

Seco n d h an d co m p o n en t s an d n o n -reu s ab le co m p o n en t s exp o rt

(ap p ro x. 1 m illio n v eh icles )R e sidue(2 0 t o 2 5 % )1) - 4): M a n ife s t flo w
A SR ( a p p r o x . 8 0 0 ,0 0 0 t o n s)
( t o c o n t r o lle d disp o sa l f a c ilit ie s)

Figure 1-2

End-of-Life Vehicle Recycling Flow and Recycling Ratio

Note:
ASR: Automobile Shredder Residue
Source: Industrial Structure Council data (with some modifications made by the author).

covering and selling steel and other valuable
materials as scrap and disposing of the residue.
However, sales revenues have decreased due tofalling scrap prices and costs of disposing ofresidue (final disposal fees) have increased
sharply, squeezing profit margins and threatening the viability of their business. As a result,shredding companies stopped buying end-of-life
vehicles and started charging a vehicle disposalfee, which led to the practice of charging for accepting end-of-life vehicles throughout theend-of-life vehicle trading process.
Figure 1-3 shows the current system of
end-of-life vehicle trading. Although theamount charged varies among regions as shownin Table 1-2, generally a fee is charged at eachof the three stages (dismantling, shredding, andfinal disposal). This system has fueled illegal
dumping and inappropriate processing/disposalby people who try to avoid payment.
As shown in Figure 1-4, steel scrap prices
have been falling for many years and thus thevalue of end-of-life vehicles as a resource has
fallen. This is a result of the global market
stagnation due to the maturing of steel markets

and associated increase in steel stocks, as wellas the oversupply of steel and delays by steel
producers in adjusting their output capacities. In
addition, there are several market structure-related domestic factors such as 1) an increasing supply of scrap (as construction investment decreases), due to the need to demolish and rebuild steel structures which were built
during the high economic growth period andnow are approaching the end of their service
lives and 2) increasing competition in the electric furnace industry which is a large customer.
These conditions are unlikely to improve in thenear term, and so steel scrap prices will not risefor the time being.
Sharp rises in final disposal fees also encouraged charging for accepting end-of-life vehicles. In the past, automobile shredder residue
used to be disposed of at stable waste disposal
facilities3 which charged relatively low disposal

3

Final disposal facilities for industrial waste with stablecharacteristics. Measures to prevent scattering (due towind, etc.) and runoff/spillage of waste are required.

Development Bank of Japan Research Report/ No. 41

3

スクラッ
Sell scraps
プ販売

1) Dismantling fee①解体委託費Shredding companies

Dismantlers

Car dealers

New cardealers
Used cardealersEnd-of-life
廃 車
vehicleレ
7,500 yen/ton
7,500円/t

25,000 yen/ton
25,000円/t

ダEnd-of-life vehicle(non-reusable
components)

廃車ガラ

業
者

2) Shredding fee②シュレッダー委託費

（

4,400
yen/vehicle
4,400円/台

解
体
業
者

最
終
処
分
型
業
者
）

中
古
車
系

シ

700
yen/vehicle
700円/台

ッ ー

新
車
系

ュ

自
動
車
販
売
業
者

Final disposer(controlled)

部品・材

Sell components
料販売
and materials

ASR
ASR

管
理

3) ③最終処分費
Final disposal fee（出所）環境省調査
Figure 1-3 Current System of End-of-Life Vehicle Trading
Source: Environmental Agency survey.

fees for landfilling shredder residue, but the
Waste Disposal Law Enforcement Rules andrelated rules were amended after the “Teshima
Incident” in 1990 involving illegal dumping ofindustrial waste including shredder residue, andfrom April 1, 19954, all automobile shredder
residue is required by law to be disposed of as
landfill at controlled disposal facilities5 whichcharge higher fees. This led to sharp rises infinal disposal fees6, which encouraged the prac4

Those disposal facilities that had been landfilling
automobile shredder residue as of September 26, 1994,
were ordered to stop the practice by April 1, 1996.
5
This applies to industrial waste other than that processed at shielded disposal facilities (that are completely
shielded from public water systems and groundwater systems by means of concrete walls and handle hazardous
industrial waste having higher concentration of a hazardous substance than the specified level, including ashes,soot, sludge, and slag) and stable waste disposal facilities
and general waste. To prevent the pollution of public water systems and groundwater systems due to seepage fromthe landfill, water barriers (such as vinyl sheet barriers on
the sides and bottom of the landfill) and facilities to collectand treat seepage must be provided.
6
The national average disposal fee paid to controlled
disposal facilities is approximately 20,000 yen, with the
20,000 to 24,000 yen range representing the highest proportion at 26.5%. By region, the Kanto region is the highest at 22,000 yen. With regard to disposal fees paid tostable waste disposal facilities, the national average isabout 11,000 yen, with the 5,000 to 9,000 yen range representing the highest proportion at 37.4%. (Figures takenfrom a survey conducted by the Japan Iron and Steel Re4

Development Bank of Japan Research Report/ No. 41

tice of charging for accepting end-of-life vehicles. As shown in Figure 1-4, shredder unit
prices have risen rapidly since 1996. The capacities of final disposal facilities are being depleted rapidly as shown in Table 1-3, and thesituation is being made worse by the disinclination to construct new final disposal facilities
due to the more rigorous requirements for suchnew facilities introduced through the 1997
amendment to the Waste Disposal Law (26 facilities per year in fiscal 1999 compared to over
100 facilities in the preceding years), as shownin Figure 1-5.
Furthermore, some operators started tolimit the quantity of automobile shredder residue they will accept for such reasons as therisks of spontaneous ignition and destabilizationof the ground.
These factors which hinder the existing
autonomous automobile recycling mechanism
based on valuable goods trading are difficult toeliminate in the short term, hence the greater
effort being made to promote automobile recycling.

cycling Institute for the period from January to December
2000.)

Table 1-2

Results of Recent Survey on Charging for Accepting End-of-Life Vehicles

End-of-life vehicle acceptance fee (new car dealer)
Between new car dealer and dismantler
Number of cases ofpurchase by the dismantler

Number of cases offree-of-charge acceptance

Number of cases of acceptance fee payment by the
dealerAverage price(yen/vehicle)

Hokkaido region

88

12

30

-789

Tohoku region

52

3

42

-1,082

Kanto & Koshin-etsu region

69

15

56

-3,017

Chubu region

37

60

41

-840

Kinki region

68

19

3

761

Chugoku region

77

8

15

1,770

Shikoku region

17

13

30

-2,024

Kyushu region

135

5

20

-238

Total

543

135

237

-721

End-of-life vehicle acceptance fee (used car dealer)
Between used car dealer and dismantler
Number of cases ofpurchase by the dismantler

Number of cases offree-of-charge acceptance

Number of cases of acceptance fee payment by the
dealerAverage price(yen/vehicle)

Hokkaido region

8

18

44

-471

Tohoku region

3

0

91

-5,622

Kanto & Koshin-etsu region

3

0

117

-6,534

Chubu region

1

4

91

-5,771

Kinki region

0

14

59

-3,973

Chugoku region

0

20

40

-2,663

Shikoku region

2

4

84

-5,056

Kyushu region

3

35

61

-2,813

Total

20

95

587

-4,392End-of-life vehicle (non-reusable components) acceptance fee
Between dismantler and shredding company
Average fee(yen/vehicle)

Average fee(yen/ton)

Between shredding company and final disposer
Average fee (yen/vehicle)

Average fee(yen/ton)

Hokkaido region-4,400-7,000-3,000-15,000

Tohoku region-3,300-5,300-5,200-26,000

Kanto & Koshin-etsu region-5,300-8,400-5,000-25,000

Chubu region-5,300-8,400-4,600-23,000

Kinki region-4,400-7,000-6,600-33,000

Chugoku region-4,800-7,600-5,200-26,000

Shikoku region

－

－

－

－

Kyushu region-3,900-6,200-4,600-23,000

Total-4,700-7,500-5,000-25,000

Notes: 1. With regard to the end-of-life vehicles (non-reusable components) and automobile shredder residue, an acceptancefee was charged in all cases surveyed.
2. The average acceptance fees per end-of-life vehicle (non-reusable components) were calculated from the average
fees per ton by assuming that the weight of one end-of-life vehicle (non-reusable components) was 630 kg.
3. The average acceptance fees per end-of-life vehicle (automobile shredder residue) were calculated from the average fees per ton by assuming that the weight of one end-of-life vehicle (automobile shredder residue) was 200 kg.
Source: Sampling survey conducted by the Ministry of the Environment in May and June 2001.

Development Bank of Japan Research Report/ No. 41

5Yen/ton
30,00025,00020,00015,00010,0005,000
0-5,000-10,000
82

83

84

85

86

87

88

89

90

91

92

93

94

95

96

97

98

99

00

(Fiscal year)
Selling price of steel scrap

Buying price of raw material (end-of-life vehicle)

ASR processing unit price

Figure 1-4 Changes in Shredding-related Unit Prices
Source:Japan Iron and Steel Recycling Institute data.

Table 1-3

Remaining Capacities of Industrial Waste Final Disposal Facilities andTime to Reach Full Capacity (As of April 1, 1999)(Units: 10,000 tons, 10,000 m3, year)

RegionKanto region
Kinki region
Japan total

Final disposal volume

Remaining
capacity

1,769
806
5,800

Time remaining before full depletionof capacity
1,380
0.8
1,540
1.9
19,031
3.3

Notes: 1. The Kanto region comprises Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Saitama, Chiba, Kanagawa, and Yamanashi prefectures
and Metropolitan Tokyo.
The Kinki region comprises Mie, Shiga, Kyoto, Hyogo, Nara, and Wakayama prefectures and Metropolitan
Osaka.
2. The final disposal volumes for the Kanto and Kinki regions were calculated as “58,000,000 (tons) × 30.5%” and“58,000,000 (tons) × 13.9%,” respectively (proportions of the volume generated in 1998).
3. The time remaining was calculated by dividing the remaining capacity by the final disposal volume (assuming a
ton-m3 conversion ratio of 1).
Source: Ministry of the Environment, “Survey on Administrative Organizations for Industrial Waste.”6

Development Bank of Japan Research Report/ No. 41

Number of facilities
250
193

200
150

137

136

129

100
50

26

0
1995

1996

1997

1998

1999 Fiscal year

Figure 1-5 Number of Newly Constructed Final Disposal Facilities
Note:

The figure for 1999 is taken from an advance report of a separate survey conducted by the Ministryof the Environment and is subject to change.
Source: Ministry of the Environment, “Survey on Administrative Organizations for Industrial Waste.”3.
3.1

Overview of the Automobile
Recycling Law
Intent of the Automobile
Recycling Law

The proposed legal framework for automobile
recycling (the Law for Recycling ofEnd-of-Life Vehicles) aims to restore the independence of the traditional end-of-life vehicle
recycling framework by addressing these problems. The content of the Law is still being discussed7 and the details of the new framework
have yet to be finalized, but the following key
points have been fixed.
The purpose of the legal framework forautomobile recycling is to restore the autonomyof the traditional end-of-life vehicle recycling
framework, mainly through measures to eliminate or weaken the practice of charging for accepting end-of-life vehicles that has paralyzed
7

The Automobile Recycling Subcommittee (the current
Automobile Recycling Working Group) of the Industrial
Structure Council of the Ministry of Economy, Trade, andIndustry started discussions on a new automobile recycling framework, including the possibility of introducing
dedicated legislation, in July 2000. These discussions led
to the submission of a bill to the 2002 Ordinary Session of
the Diet. The law is currently scheduled to take effect inApril 2004.

the traditional system. Under the new framework, the automobile manufacturers and importers will be required to accept and dispose of
three kinds of materials (including contracting-out to a third company), namely
chlorofluorocarbons, airbags, and automobile
shredder residue (ASR), and the users will be
required to pay in advance the costs incurred by
the automobile manufacturers and importers.
The aim is to improve the end-of-life vehicle
recycling ratio to 95% or more by the year 2015.
ASR is the main cause of charging for accepting end-of-life vehicles by means of final disposal fees throughout the entire automobile recycling flow, but the processing and disposal ofchlorofluorocarbons and airbags also contributeto the practice because they introduce additional costs into the recycling flow. The newlegislation is intended to eliminate or weaken
the practice by incorporating the costs of recycling these materials into the recycling flow.
3.2

Recycling of the Three DesignatedMaterials

As sharp rises in final disposal fees have led tocharging for accepting end-of-life vehicles, themost pressing task relating to the three kinds ofmaterials is to reduce the volume of ASR going
Development Bank of Japan Research Report/ No. 41

7pected to be used for recycling this ASR, and as
will be explained in Chapter 3, this has triggered technological development.
With regard to airbags, the share of vehicles equipped with airbags as a percentage ofthe total number of end-of-life vehicles was still
approximately 2% as of 1998, because suchvehicles did not start to appear until the late1980s in Japan, and it was only in the
mid-1990s that automobile manufacturers
started to provide airbags in most new
mass-market cars. However, as the proportionof vehicles equipped with airbags has increased,
so too the proportion of end-of-life vehicles
with airbags will soon increase sharply, and thecost of processing and disposal of airbags willthen start affecting automobile recycling costs
significantly. With regard to processing technologies, the Japan Automobile Manufacturers
Association, Inc. and Japan Auto Parts Industries Association have already developed a system8 for collecting and disposing of undeto-

to landfills. The number of vehicles becoming
end-of-life vehicles is not expected to change
significantly in the future as will be explainedlater, but the volume of ASR produced may
increase, because 1) new automobiles are becoming larger and 2) the proportion of
non-metal materials in the raw material composition is increasing due to the diversification of
automobile component materials in a bid to improve the functions and reduce the weight ofautomobiles. Figure 1-6 shows changes in the
raw material composition for mass-market andcompact cars since 1973. As can be seen, theproportion of non-metal raw materials was
about 14% in 1973, but exceeded 19% in 2001.
Figure 1-7 shows the composition of ASR.
The dominance of non-metal raw materials
such as resin, fiber, glass, and rubber suggeststhat the trend toward more sophisticated functions and the ASR problem are closely related.
Much of the financial resources newly invested
under the Automobile Recycling Law is ex100%
13.9

14.4

16.4

18.4

19.5

18.9

19.7

19.6

19.2

73

77

80

83

86

89

92

97

01 Year

80%

60%

40%

20%

0%

Pig iron

Ordinary steel

Special steel

Non-ferrous metal

Non-metal raw material

Figure 1-6 Changes in Raw Material Composition for Mass-market and Compact Cars
Source: Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, Inc., “Japanese Automobile Industry 2001.”
8

System for safely and efficiently processing and disposing of undetonated airbag inflators individually without
shredding them. Under this system, companies that haveregistered with the Airbag Inflator Collection and Disposal
Center set up in the Japan Automobile Manufacturers
Association, Inc. collect airbag inflators disassembled
from vehicles and take them to the two Specified Disposal
Facilities (Hyogo and Kanagawa prefectures) where they
are detonated and processed.

8

Development Bank of Japan Research Report/ No. 41Copper
4.4%

Zinc and related materials
1.1%
Lead
0.2%

Aluminum
5.1%

Iron
8.0%

Resin
39.3%

Rubber
8.7%
Glass
16.1%

Fiber
17.1%

Figure 1-7 Composition of ASR (%)
Source: Survey by the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, Inc.

nated airbag inflators (gas generators) of
end-of-life vehicles and have been conducting a
two-year demonstration testing project since
October 2001. Systems for distributing the test
results to dismantlers and other interested parties will likely be developed in the near future.
With regard to chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)
used as coolants for automobile air conditioners,
the use of CFC-12 (a designated CFC) in automobile production has already been bannedcompletely, and HFC-134a, a substitute coolantthat does not deplete the ozone layer, has beenused since 1994 in response to the developmentof an international framework to protect theozone layer.9 The problem is the recovery stage.
9

With regard to the designated chlorofluorocarbons that
deplete the ozone layer, plans to reduce the production andconsumption volumes of substances that deplete the ozone
layer have already been adopted under the 1985 Vienna
Convention and 1987 Montreal Protocol. In Japan, too,efforts have been made to comply with these plans, including the 1988 Law concerning the Protection of the
Ozone Layer through the Control of Specified Substancesand Other Measures (Ozone Layer Protection Law).
Regulation of the production and importing of designated
CFCs under the Ozone Layer Protection Law started in
1989, and by the end of 1995, the production of the fivedesignated CFCs was totally banned.

As the existing recovery system10 is not working as quickly as intended11 with the total number of automobiles using designated CFCs as
coolants for their air conditioners still accounting for approximately 25% of the total numberof vehicles in Japan, there has been strong demand for a system to ensure appropriate processing and disposal. In June 2001, the Law
concerning Recovery and Destruction of
Chlorofluorocarbons Used in the Designated
Products (Fluorocarbons Recovery and Destruction Law), which requires chlorofluorocarbons from commercial air conditioners, refrigerators and chillers as well as from automobile air conditioners to be recovered and destroyed, was promulgated. The enforcement of
the Fluorocarbons Recovery and Destruction
Law started in April 2002 for commercial air
10

As a voluntary effort by the automobile industry,measures such as the provision of CFC recovery systems
at points-of-sale of automobile dealers were started around1991. In 1998, a voluntary action program called the“CFC Recovery Promotion Program” to encourage thedestruction of designated CFCs was started.
11
The recovery rate of refrigerant and coolant CFCs infiscal 2000 was 15%, down 5% from the previous fiscal
year.
Development Bank of Japan Research Report/ No. 41

9conditioners, refrigerators and chillers, and theLaw for automobile air conditioners is scheduled to be enforced from the end of October
2002. These Laws have spawned discussions on
new systems and mechanisms such as a “CFC
Ticket System” in which CFC Tickets would be
used to require users to bear the cost of recovering and destroying CFCs from products theyown until the Automobile Recycling Law isenforced in 2004.

players called “automobile shredder residue(ASR) recycling companies” by paying a contract recycling fee. The greatest impact on environmental industries of introducing theAutomobile Recycling Law would be in thearea of ASR processing, but as explained later,
plant manufacturers, nonferrous metal refiners,
and steel producers are currently developing
technology in this area.
3.4

3.3

Envisioned Processing and Disposal
Framework

According to the envisioned money flow in
end-of-life vehicle processing and disposal, theuser, upon buying a new vehicle, would be required to pay a fee specified by the manufacturer12, and the money (fund) would be managed by a designated body. This approach issimilar to that being used in the Netherlands,
which will be explained later. The approach
was adopted to avoid problems regarding taxes
on the collected recycling fee and the risk ofloss of the money collected due to bankruptcy
or dissolution of an automobile manufacturer or
automobile importer. The automobile manufacturers and importers would be required tocollect the three kinds of materials mentioned
above, but would be allowed to file a claim forreimbursement from the fund management
body.
Figure 1-8 shows the end-of-life vehicle
recycling flow envisioned by the proposed
Automobile Recycling Law. There are manychanges to the existing framework to ensurethat all or most end-of-life vehicles are channeled to the specified processing and disposal
flow, including systems to issue permits to or
register persons and companies that accept
end-of-life vehicles, dismantlers, and shredding
companies. The greatest change to the existing
recycling flow is the introduction of a system inwhich automobile manufacturers/importers
contract out the ASR recycling work to new
12
The cost of processing and disposing of automobiles
that have already been sold would be collected by the timeof the first mandatory registration renewal inspection after
the introduction of the new system, to eliminate thecharging of fees at the time of disposal.

10

Development Bank of Japan Research Report/ No. 41

Other Related Activities and Efforts

To achieve smooth end-of-life vehicle recycling,
it is important to establish a system that ensuresthat all or most end-of-life vehicles are channeled to the specified recycling flow. The proposed legislation itself envisions new systems
to issue permits to or register persons and companies that accept end-of-life vehicles, dismantlers, etc., but the possibility of various institutional reforms to taxation and registration are
also being discussed as in European countries,
which will be explained in the following Chapter.
1) Establishment of an Automobile WeightTax Refund System
For many years, associations and organizationsin the automobile and related industries havebeen calling for the introduction of an automobile weight tax refund system13 as a policy
measure to prevent illegal dumping of
end-of-life vehicles and promote end-of-life
vehicle recycling. This possibility was studiedin conjunction with the introduction of the newautomobile recycling framework, and it was
13
The automobile weight tax is a tax levied on all automobiles that are subject to the mandatory registration renewal inspection due to expiration of their registration andall mini-sized vehicles having an assigned automobile
registration number. The owners of automobiles that haveundergone and passed a mandatory registration renewal
inspection, and the people who apply for an automobile
registration number for their mini-sized vehicles, pay a
fixed amount based on the type, weight and registration
period of the vehicle or mini-sized vehicle. For example,
the current automobile weight tax for a passenger vehicle
for private use that weighs under 1.5 tons is 18,900 yen
per year. The present system requires the tax for two years
to be paid in a lump sum (tax for three years in case of an
initial registration), and a person who has his or her vehicle deregistered for disposal before expiration of registration does not receive any refund for the remaining period.

Automobile Recycling Law (tentative name)·● Advance collection of processing and disposal costs, fund management by designated bodies·● Legal obligation of the automobile manufacturers and automobile importers to collect CFCs, air-bags, and ASR·
● Target recycling ratio of 95% or more for end-of-life vehicles by the year 2015·● Applicable to 4-wheel passenger vehicles and 4-wheel commercial vehicles (excluding parts that can be detached from the cab &chassis section such as carriers and cargo decks)·● Introduction of a system to register companies and persons who accepted end-of-life vehicles and recycling companies (with monitoring)

Automobile manufacturers/importers

Accept ance ofcollect ion fees

ASR upon

Repair & s ervice
garages

Com panies and persons that ac cept

Dismantlers

ダーvehiclesッEnd-of-life

レ

事
業
者

Shredding companiesシュEnd-of-life
vehiclesSpecialized us ed
car retailers

Au tom obi l e re cycl e rs (pe rm i ts)

Cont ract ing out ASR
recyclingダスト

5%

end-of-life vehic les (r egistration)

Mat erial flow
M oney flow

Cont ract ASR recycling fees

requestDealers

Disposal fee

Last owners

CFC and airbag

CFCs and airbags
upon request

Fund management
bodiesPurchasers of new
automobiles

Accept ance ofRecycling ratio of 95%

men t

AS R recycling companies

Claim

Reimb u rse-

M anifes t-bas ed management

A SR: approx. 180,000 tons ?
(To controlled dis pos al facilities )Figure 1-8 End-of-Life Vehicle Recycling Flow Envisioned by the Automobile Recycling Law
Source: Industrial Structure Council data (with modifications by the author).

decided to establish such a system as part of theplanned FY 2002 amendment to the automobile
taxation system. Under this automobile weighttax refund system, the last owner receives an“End-of-Life Vehicle Tracking Slip” (manifest)
from the repair & service garage, etc. at thetime of deregistration under the Automobile
Recycling Law, and the competent Local Land
Transport Office of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport notifies the competent
Tax Office after confirming the deregistrationand issuance of the manifest, so the sum of theautomobile weight tax corresponding to the remaining period of registration will be refunded
to the last owner. The system is expected to be

introduced at the time the Automobile Recycling Law comes into force.
2) Review of the Existing Automobile Deregistration System
The “Road Transport and Motor Vehicle Law(Automobile Law)” provides for an automobile
registration system that allows the Local Land
Transport Offices to know the names of theautomobile owners in their jurisdiction areas,
the areas in which the registered automobiles
are mainly used, and other relevant information.
The deregistration system is used to cancel thisregistration.
There are two types of deregistration underDevelopment Bank of Japan Research Report/ No. 41

11the present system, namely, “permanent deregistration” (deregistration pursuant to Article 15)
and “temporary deregistration” (deregistration
pursuant to Article 16). Permanent deregistration is made when an automobile has been destroyed or when the owner of an automobile
wishes to dismantle or decommission theautomobile. In this case, the competent Local
Land Transport Office can confirm the fact thatthe automobile has been disposed of and how,because the owner is required to submit a certificate of dismantlement to it. Temporary
deregistration is made when the owner of an
automobile wishes to abandon the ownership of
the automobile. Because temporary deregistration does not require the submission of a certificate of final disposal and there is no fixed
time limit, the competent Local Land Transport
Office cannot know whether a temporarily deregistered automobile has been dismantled, exported or re-entered use as a used vehicle. The
annual number of temporary deregistrations iscurrently about 5 million, which is much higher
than that of permanent deregistrations (approximately 200,000), with most of the dismantled vehicles and used vehicles exported tooverseas after deregistration using the temporary deregistration system. There have been
demands for revision of the present deregistration system, as in the case of Germany that will
be explained later, in view of the need for amonitoring system after introducing the newautomobile recycling framework. Currently thepresent deregistration system is being reviewed
to make it work in combination with the Automobile Recycling Law to prevent illegal dumping of automobiles and promote automobile
recycling. With regard to permanent deregistration, a new system is being discussed thatwould allow the Local Land Transport Offices
to complete the registration of automobiles after
confirming that they have been dismantled inaccordance with the automobile dismantlingscheme of the Automobile Recycling Law byrequiring the last owner to submit, at the timeof deregistration, the “End-of-Life Vehicle
Tracking Slip” (manifest) he or she received
from the repair & service garage, etc. under theAutomobile Recycling Law. With regard totemporary deregistration, a system will be in12

Development Bank of Japan Research Report/ No. 41

troduced in which automobile owners are required to notify the competent Local Land
Transport Office when they have abandonedownership of their automobiles and all temporarily deregistered automobiles are required tobe reregistered, dismantled, or exported withina specified time in accordance with specified
procedures.
In addition, discussions are being held tochange the present system for mini-sized vehicles, which is based on reporting and inspection
instead of registration, to one that is linked to
the Automobile Recycling Law as in the case of
mass-market and compact cars, by utilizing thesystem requiring owners to return their registration certificates upon expiration.
4. Impacts of End-of-Life Vehicle Recycling
What will be the impacts of shifting to the newframework based on the above-mentioned legal
system? The number of vehicles in Japan has
increased roughly ten-fold over the past 30
years and exceeded 70 million at the end of
2000, as shown in Figure 1-9. The number of
new vehicles (passenger and freight vehicles)
sold and registered has generally increased overthe same period albeit with some fluctuations
related to economic climate and is currently
around 6 million per year (approximately 10%of the total number of vehicles in Japan), as
shown in Figure 1-10. The number of vehicles
deregistered (end-of-life vehicles14), calculated
from the number of vehicles in Japan and thenumber of vehicles sold and registered, is currently around 5 million per year, as shown in
Figure 1-11.
The domestic automobile market is maturing as shown by the very low rate of increase in
the number of vehicles in Japan in Figure 1-9
and the high automobile ownership rate (passenger vehicles) of 85% (as of the end of Feb
ruary, 2001) and the high average number of
automobiles owned by Japanese households

14[Number of end-of-life vehicles] = [Total number ofvehicles in Japan in the previous fiscal year] + [Number ofvehicles sold in the current fiscal year] – [Total number ofvehicles in Japan at the end of the current fiscal year]10,000 vehicles
8,000

%
40

7,000

35

6,000

30

5,000

25

4,000

20

3,000

15

2,000

10

1,000

5

0

0
66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00
Fiscal year
Passenger vehicles
Omnibus-type vehicles
Rate of increase/decrease (passenger vehicles; right scale)Freight vehicles
Special vehicles
Rate of increase/decrease (4-wheel vehicles total; right scale)Figure 1-9 Changes in Number of Automobiles in Japan and Rates of Increase/Decrease
Source: Automobile Inspection and Registration Association, “Changes in the Number of Automobiles in Japan(FY 2000 Edition).”

10,000 vehicles
900
800

Passenger vehicles
Freight vehicles

700

4-wheel vehicles total

600
500
400
300
200
100
0
70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00
Fiscal year

Figure 1-10 Changes in Number of Vehicles Sold and Registered(Passenger and Freight Vehicles)
Source: Data from Japan Automobile Dealers Association and Japan Mini Vehicles

Development Bank of Japan Research Report/ No. 41

13

％

10,000 vehicles

18.0

600

16.0
500
14.0
12.0

400

10.0
300
8.0
200

6.0
4.0

100
2.0
0

0.0
70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00
Fiscal year
Passenger vehicles

Freight vehicles

End-of-life vehicle rate (freight vehicles)

End-of-life vehicle rate (total)

Figure 1-11

End-of-life vehicle rate (passenger vehicles)

Changes in Number of End-of-Life Vehicles and End-of-Life Vehicle Rates(Passenger and Freight Vehicles)

Source: Automobile Inspection and Registration Association, “Changes in the Number of Automobiles in Japan (FY2000 Edition).”(130 automobiles per 100 households) shown in
Figure 1-12. As automobile demand is expected
to continue to be driven mainly by replacement
needs, the annual number of vehicles becoming
end-of-life vehicles, as calculated from thenumber of vehicles in Japan and the number ofvehicles sold and registered, will likely remain
at the current level in the mid-term. The volumeof ASR generated from these end-of-life vehicles is estimated to be about 800,000 tons per
year, which is equivalent to about 60% of thetotal volume of the various types of shredder
residue.15 Currently almost all of this ASR isbeing disposed of by landfilling.
The Automobile Recycling Law may have
many different kinds of impact depending on
how the term “impact” is defined, but we firstconsider the simplest impact based on theamount of newly introduced funds. If we as15

The shares of the numbers of installed shredders used
for end-of-life vehicles, spent household appliances,end-of-life vending machines, and other end-of-life products as percentages of the total number of installed shredders in Japan are 60%, 20%, 10%, and 10%, respectively.

14

Development Bank of Japan Research Report/ No. 41

sume that 4 million end-of-life vehicles out of
the 5 million are disposed of domestically and adisposal fund of 20,000 yen per automobile enters the automobile recycling framework, then
80 billion yen (4,000,000 vehicles × 20,000yen) in total will flow annually into the existingprocesses including dismantling, shredding, andused parts trading and will be used for recycling
the designated three kinds of materials.
The amount itself may not seem to have astrong impact, especially as the recycling ratesof these materials are already high, but themoney should result in huge improvements,
such as a reduction in the volume of ASR going
to final disposal facilities, progress in recycling
design, and evolution of waste processing anddisposal facilities driven by new ASR processing technologies.

140

2001

Passenger vehicles total
New passenger vehicles
Used passenger vehicles

120

Number of automobiles

100

80

60

40

20

1961

0
0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

Automobile ownership rate (percentage of total number of households)

Figure 1-12 Changes in Automobile Ownership Rate (Passenger Vehicles) andNumber of Automobiles Owned by Japanese Households (1961 - 2001)
Notes:

1. The number of automobiles owned for 1966 is not shown due to lack of data.
2. The numbers of new and used passenger vehicles are shown separately only for 1983 onward.
Source: Prepared by the Development Bank of Japan from “Household Spending Trends,” Economic Planning
Agency (Cabinet Office of the Government of Japan).

Development Bank of Japan Research Report/ No. 41

15

II Trends in End-of-Life Vehicle
Recycling in European Countries
1.

Overview of the ELV Directive

Now let us take a look at major overseas trends
in end-of-life vehicle recycling. As mentioned
earlier, moves to improve national recycling
frameworks for post-consumer waste (PCW)
through the introduction of the concept of extended producer responsibility (EPR) have been
growing in Germany and other European countries, leading to EU-level policies that transcend
national boundaries.
The EU’s environmental policies havebeen strengthened gradually since the adoptionof the 1987 Single European Act (SEA) that
introduced environmental provisions into the
EC Treaty of that time, and today the Member
States are required to consider the level of environmental protection needed for sustainable
development in implementing all common policies of the EU. However, with regard to laws to
implement such policies in environment-relatedareas, “Directives” that stipulate objectives only
and leave the implementation to domestic lawsof the Member States are typically used rather
than “Regulations1” that have general binding
power, because it is very difficult to coordinate
the interests of all parties in such areas. This isalso true in end-of-life vehicle recycling, where
the EU Directive on End-of-Life Vehicles (Di1

The laws and rules used in the EU to enforce its policies are divided into four main types according to thestrength of their binding power and other criteria. The firstof these is “Regulations,” which precede domestic laws
and are implemented directly in all Member States. The
second is “Directives,” which are binding only with respect to the “objectives” to be achieved and leave the approaches and methods to achieve the objectives to thediscretion of Member States’ national agencies. When a
Directive is adopted, the Member States have to amend or
establish domestic laws and administrative rules in accordance with the Directive, and the Directive becomes effective only after the relevant domestic laws have been put inplace. The third is “Decisions,” which apply to one ormore specific Member States, individuals, or organizations
and therefore can be regarded as specific and individualadministrative measures rather than general laws or rules.
The fourth is “Recommendations and Opinions,” which
are legally non-binding and can be regarded as an expression of opinions by the European Council or European
Committee.

16

Development Bank of Japan Research Report/ No. 41

rective 2000/53/EC on End-of-life Vehicles)
was adopted by the European Parliament in
September 2000 and entered into force in October 2000. The Member States are required to
implement the Directive through their domestic
laws in accordance with the provisions of the
Directive within 18 months, that is, by April
2002.
Appropriate processing and disposal of
end-of-life vehicles to reduce the volume andenvironmental impacts of waste generated fromend-of-life vehicles has been perceived forsome time by Member States of the EU as acommon EU task, and a 1990 European Council Decision designated end-of-life vehicles as acategory of waste that must be disposed ofbased on a unified EU standard. To turn this
into law, the ELV Directive was announced by
the European Committee in 1997 as a Proposal
for a Directive on End-of-life Vehicles. It has
been modified and refined into the ELV Directive in its present form through many discussions. Table 2-1 outlines the Directive, which
comprises four major elements, namely, 1) ensuring free-of-charge acceptance of end-of-life
vehicles from their last owners, 2) setting target
recycling rates, 3) regulating the use of hazardous substances, and 4) developing a monitoring
system.
Because the ELV Directive is intended to
be implemented through domestic legislation of
the Member States, it merely presents generalobjectives to be achieved to ensure appropriate
disposal of end-of-life vehicles. However, theDirective will likely have significant influences
on Japan’s future policy decisions because it
represents the future direction of the convergence of European countries’ policies that has
just started.

Table 2-1 Outline of the EU Directive on ELVContent○ The Member States shall take the necessary measures to ensure that vehicles are delivered toauthorized processing/disposal facilities without any cost to the last owner and that the
producer bears all or a significant part of the collection, processing and/or disposal costs.
This shall apply to all vehicles put on the market between July 1, 2002 and December 31,
2006, and on and after January 1, 2007, shall apply to all ELVs(*).
(2) Recycling rate (achievable ○ Achievable recycling rate
rate and actual rate)
The EU Directive on Vehicle Type Approval (70/156/EEC) will be amended by the end of(Article 7)
fiscal 2001 and all automobiles put on the market will be subjected to type approval from thethird year after the amendment.
Achievable recycling rate: 95% or more (energy collection: 10% or less)○ Actual recycling rate
・ Vehicles that become ELVs from January 2006: The figure in [ ] is that for vehicles
registered in and before January 1980.
Actual recycling rate: 85% [75%] or more (energy collection: 5% or less)・ Vehicles that become ELVs from January 2015
Actual recycling rate: 95% or more (energy collection: 10% or less)
Item(1) Free-of-charge acceptanceof ELVs(Articles 5 and 12)(3) Substances contained in
new-type vehicles thatcause an environmental
impact(4) Pre-dismantling for ELV
processing/disposal(Article 6)○ In principle, the use of lead, mercury, cadmium, and hexavalent chromium will be banned for
all automobiles put on the market from July 2003 (**).

(7) Implementation of the EU
Directive(Article 10)○ The Member States shall put into effect, within 18 months of the Directive entering into
force, the necessary domestic laws, regulations, and administrative rules to comply with the
Directive.

○ The Member States shall ensure that all processing/disposal is done such that ELVs do notcause pollution.
○ All treatment/disposal facilities are required to obtain permission from or register with thecompetent authority.
○ Removal of catalysts, glass parts, etc. to facilitate recycling○ The Member States shall take measures to ensure that business entities operating based on(5) ELV collection network
economic principles (***) establish systems for the collection, processing, and disposal of(Articles 5 and 12)
ELVs and used components.
○ All vehicles put on the market between July 1, 2002 and December 31, 2006 (and on andafter January 1, 2007, all ELVs) must be sent to authorized processing/disposal facilities.
○ The Member States shall establish a system that requires the last owner to present a certificate
of dismantlement as a prerequisite for ELV deregistration.
(6) Reporting and information ○ The Member States shall submit every three years a report about the domestic implementationof the Directive to the European Committee.
disclosure○ The Member States shall require, as appropriate, the relevant business entities to disclose
information on the following:・ Designs of their vehicle or vehicles and their components that concern recoverability andrecyclability.
・ Environmentally safe processing of ELVs, especially with respect to the dismantling of
ELVs and the removal of all liquids.
・ Development and optimization of methods to reuse, recycle, and recover ELVs and theircomponents.
・ Progress status of the reduction of the volume of the disposed waste through recovery andrecycling and the progress status toward the targets for improved recovery and recycling.

*
ELVs: End-of-life vehicles** However, certain items are exempted from this under the Annex.
*** Retailers, ELV collection companies, insurance companies, dismantlers, shredding companies, recyclers, etc.
Source: Directive 2000/53/EC on End-of-life Vehicles.

Development Bank of Japan Research Report/ No. 41

171) Ensuring Free-of-Charge Acceptance ofEnd-of-Life Vehicles from Their Last
OwnersThe ELV Directive stipulates that “the EU
Member States shall take the necessary measures
to ensure that end-of-life vehicles are acceptedby authorized processing/disposal facilities
without any cost to the last owner and that the
producer bears all or a significant part of thecollection, processing and/or disposal costs (Article 5),” requiring the Member States to develop
a system that allows the last owners to have their
end-of-life vehicles accepted by processing/disposal facilities without paying any processing/disposal fee. The Article also provides forthe extended producer responsibility for the recycling of automobiles as PCW, by requiring the
producer2 to bear an appropriate share of thecosts to process and/or dispose of end-of-life
vehicles. This applies to “all vehicles3 put on themarket between July 1, 2002 and December 31,
2006, and on and after January 1, 2007, to all
end-of-life vehicles (Article 12).”all vehicles put on the market from the thirdyear after the introduction of the new type approval system, on condition that energy collection (recovery) must be 10% or less (Article 7,
Paragraph 4).
With regard to recycling rate targets for thevehicles that have already been sold, it is required under the ELV Directive to achieve a
recycling rate of 85% or more (with energy
collection accounting for 5%) for vehicles that
become end-of-life vehicles from January 2006
and 95% or more (with energy collection accounting for 10%) for vehicles that become
end-of-life vehicles from January 2015 (Article
7, Paragraph 2).

2) Setting Target Recycling Rates
With regard to numerical recycling rate targets,a proposal to amend the EU Directive on Vehicle Type Approval (70/156/EEC) was adopted
in October 2001 by the European Committee,
and it is now required under the ELV Directive
to achieve a recycling (reuse4, recycling5, andrecovery6) rate of 95% or more by weight for4) Development of Monitoring System
The ELV Directive requires the Member Statesto introduce a system under which the competent authority issues permits to or registers
processing/disposal facilities (Article 6) and asystem which requires the last owner to presenta certificate of dismantlement as a prerequisite
for end-of-life vehicle deregistration so that allor most end-of-life vehicles are channeled tosuch authorized processing/disposal facilities(Article 5).
As the Member States are to submit a report to the European Committee every three
years on the domestic implementation of the
Directive, they are allowed to require the parties concerned to disclose the information theyneed to prepare the report, including designs ofautomobiles and their components, environmental impacts associated with and waste generated from the recycling process, and recycling
rates (Article 9). The purpose of these provisions is to ensure that systems for appropriate
processing and disposal of ELVs are developed

2

The term “producer” refers to the relevant automobile
manufacturer or the relevant professional automobile importer that imports vehicles to an EU Member State (Article 2, ELV Directive).
3
The term “vehicles” refers to passenger vehicles that
accommodate 8 persons or less, commercial motor vehicles weighing less than 3.5 tons, and 3-wheel motor vehicles excluding light motor tricycles (Article 2, ELV Directive).
4
The term “reuse” refers to the use of a component ofan end-of-life vehicle for the same purpose as that which it
is originally intended for (Article 2, ELV Directive).
5
The term “recycling” refers to the reprocessing ofwaste in a production process to use it for the originallyintended purpose or another purpose other than energy
recovery. Energy recovery means the use of combustible
waste as a medium to generate energy through direct incineration (including direct incineration with other waste)(Article 2, ELV Directive).
6
The term “recovery” refers to any one of the operations listed in Annex IIB to Directive 75/442/EEC, asapplicable (Article 2, ELV Directive). These include the18

Development Bank of Japan Research Report/ No. 41

3) Regulating the Use of Hazardous Substances
The Member States must ensure that in principle, the materials and components of all vehicles put on the market from July 2003 do notcontain any lead, mercury, cadmium, or
hexavalent chromium (Article 4).

use as a medium to generate energy such as fuels, recycling through dissolution, and recycling as an organic
substance.

and an implementation monitoring mechanism
is put in place to secure their effectiveness.
The EU Member States will have toquickly develop domestic laws for end-of-life
vehicle processing and disposal that incorporate
these elements. Let us now take a look at thecases of the Netherlands and Germany, whichhave been pursuing their own end-of-life vehicle recycling policies since before the ELV Directive, focusing on the recent developments,
current situations and the impacts of the ELV
Directive in these countries.
2. End-of-Life Vehicle Recycling in The
Netherlands and the ELV Directive
2.1

The Netherlands’ End-of-Life Vehicle
Recycling System

The Netherlands has been regarded as a model
country in end-of-life vehicle recycling, because the country has been successfully operating an end-of-life vehicle recycling framework
based on such systems as free-of-charge acceptance of end-of-life vehicles from their lastowners and dismantlement certificate-based
monitoring since before the ELV Directive. Indeed, the ELV Directive appears to be modeledon the Dutch framework in many aspects. It
should be noted, however, that the country had
a higher degree of freedom in that it has only
one domestic automobile manufacturer7 andthus the introduction of an extended producer
responsibility system for end-of-life vehicles
did not produce a strong impact on domestic
employment, etc.
The Netherlands has traditionally adopted
rigorous policy measures for waste landfilling
and water pollution prevention, because thecountry’s small land area and low elevation
make it more prone to problems associated with
waste landfilling and water pollution. However,end-of-life vehicles did not start attracting attention as a policy challenge in the country until
the early 1990s. This is presumably because
end-of-life vehicles had been traded and dis7

For passenger vehicles, Netherlands Car (a company
jointly established by the government of the Netherlands,
Volvo, and Mitsubishi Motors) is the only auto manufacturer in the country.

posed of rather successfully as valuable goodsin the country based on the market mechanism
up to a certain point of time as in the case ofJapan. The Dutch government set the goal ofachieving an 86% end-of-life vehicle recycling
rate by 2000 in its action program announced in
1992, and a government-approved voluntary
program by the country’s automobile-relatedindustries was initiated to achieve the target. In
1993, Auto Recycling Nederland BV (ARN)
was established as a company fully owned by
the Auto and Recycling Foundation (ARF)
which had been founded by the five automobile-related associations8 in the Netherlands,
and since 1995, the development of the country’s automobile recycling framework has been
led by ARN.
2.2

Overview of The Netherlands’ Automobile Recycling Framework

Figure 2-1 outlines the Netherlands’ automobile
recycling framework. The country has adopted
a system to pre-collect appropriate sums in theform of a processing and disposal fee within theframework of the agreement with automobile
manufacturers and importers that entered into
force on January 1, 1995. The fee is paid byautomobile manufacturers and importers when
they sell a new automobile. The ARN was established as the body to 1) manage the money
collected, 2) pay “waste disposal premiums” todismantlers, collection companies, and recyclers when the collection of materials or components does not justify the cost, and 3) be responsible to the national government for ensuring a recycling rate of 86% or more by weight.9
The 86% target is to be raised to 95% by theyear 2015.
As shown in Figure 2-1, ARN forms a contract-based network with dismantlers that havesatisfied the environmental requirements set by
the national government and recyclers andtransporters that have satisfied the requirements
8

The five automobile-related associations are: STIBA(dismantlers), RAI (automobile manufacturers and importers), BOVAG (dealers and repair & service garages),
FOCWA (post-accident vehicle repairers), and SVN(shredding companies). The SVN does not exist at present.
9
According to the 1997 annual report of ARN, ARN
had already achieved the 86% target before that year.
Development Bank of Japan Research Report/ No. 41

19Newlyregistereduser

Processing anddisposal fee

Processing anddisposal fee

Automobile
dealerAuto and Recycling
Foundation (ARF)
Organization
management fund

Auto Recycling Nederland BV (ARN)
Premium
Data

Data

Premium
Recycler

Data

Transport
contractor

Premium
Data:Money flow
:Data flow

Data

Dismantling contractor (approx.
270 companies, which
altogether cover 90% of thetotal number of end-of-life
vehicles)Dismantlers(approx. 770 companies)

Referencing
deregistration data

Deregistration
data entry

Dutch Ministryof Transport

Approval based Municipality
on environmental
requirements

Voluntary control activities by automobile-related industries (ARN, four related economic organizations; since 1995)
・Free-of-charge collection from last owners
・Payment of premium and a rigorous monitoring system fully linked with a processing/disposal database and the automobile registration system
・Emphasis on quality control on a material-by-material basis in the dismantling process

Figure 2-1

The Netherlands’ End-of-Life Vehicle Recycling Framework

Sources: Prepared by the Development Bank of Japan from data published and publications issued by the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry of Japan and ARN and other data.

set by ARN, and distributes money appropriately within the network using the pooled fund.
ARN specifies the materials and components tobe dismantled and/or recycled, determines theamount of premium for each operation (workunit) based on the amount of work required todismantle, collect, and/or recycle the material/components in question, and pays premiums to dismantlers and collection and recycling
companies as necessary. The amount of premium for each operation is determined in advance based on the time required for the operation and other factors, and all relevant data is
managed by a computerized system. The country has thus successfully developed a processing and disposal system controlled by ARN.

20

Development Bank of Japan Research Report/ No. 41

2.3

Background of The Netherlands’
Success

Automobile recycling in the Netherlands has
been changed dramatically by the ARN framework: the number of business entities in the
country with a license to accept end-of-life vehicles was 907 before the introduction of theframework, and as of the end of 1997, 207 outof the 907 business entities had joined the ARN
network and 87.6% of end-of-life vehicles in
the country were being processed and disposedof within the ARN network.
The approach of developing a sophisticated recycling flow scheme and implementing
measures to ensure that almost all end-of-life
vehicles are channeled to the recycling flow
was possible because 1) there was almost no
incentive to send end-of-life vehicles to an inappropriate processing and/or disposal system
thanks to pre-collection of the recycling cost

upon sale of new automobiles and so no cost to
the owner at the time of disposal, and 2) the
success of the special monitoring system. Thissystem is virtually the only successful example
in the EU.
Table 2-2 summarizes the monitoring system. With respect to end-of-life vehicle flow,
the system does not have a loophole like theone in the German system (which will be explained later); under the Dutch system the only
choices for the last owner are either to process
and dispose of the deregistered automobile ap-

propriately in exchange for a certificate of recycling, or to register and export it with thespecified duty document attached. The lastowner is not relieved of the responsibility to
pay the automobile tax unless the original ofeither document is presented (Table 2-3). It isalso worth noting that the monitoring system isreinforced by the computerized database of theabove-mentioned information that allows theinterested parties to obtain the latest information as necessary.
In terms of material flow, ARN uses a

Table 2-2 Administrative Procedures Used for the Netherlands’ Monitoring System
Procedure

Description

Newly purchased
The processing and disposal fee is collected and ARN is notified of the vehicle identification number (VIN) of
vehicle registration the newly registered vehicle.
Acceptance of endThe accepted end-of-life vehicle is directly deregistered on-line from the register of the Registration Officeof-life vehicle by(RDW) of the government.
dismantler
The previous owner is required to report the name and address of the purchaser and other relevant information
Domestic
to RDW. If RDW cannot identify the purchaser who is responsible for paying the automobile tax, the previous
automobile trading
owner is held responsible.
Used automobile
exportAll exports are tracked using the export document. The last owner is not relieved of the responsibility to pay theautomobile tax unless the original of the document is submitted to RDW. RDW provides ARN with all theinformation on the automobile exported (therefore, unregistered export is impossible).

Temporary
deregistration

The responsibility to pay the automobile tax arises automatically three months after the date of temporary
deregistration (thereby preventing used car trading from hindering monitoring).

Source: Environmental Agency of the Federal Republic of Germany, “Anforderung an das Monitoring im Rahmen der
Verwertung langlebiger, technisch komplexer Produkte am Beispiel des Altautos.”

Table 2-3
Deregistration option

Deregistration Options in The Netherlands

Framework/organization

Recycling in accordancewith the laws

Voluntary control (ARN model)

Temporary deregistration

Deregistration from the register of theCentral Registration Office (RDW)

ResultFree-of-charge acceptance
Processing fee (40 to 200 guilders per vehicle)
Nullification of the registration number (The responsibility
to pay the automobile tax arises automatically three months
from the date of temporary deregistration.)

Submission of a copy of the duty document
Processing fee
to RDW
The automobile tax continues to be levied
Unregistered export
Impossible(600 to 2,000 guilders per year)
Deregistration procedures The automobile tax continues to be levied
Impossible
other than above(600 to 2,000 guilders per year)
Registered export

Source: Environmental Agency of the Federal Republic of Germany, “Anforderung an das Monitoring im Rahmen der Verwertung langlebiger, technisch komplexer Produkte am Beispiel des Altautos.”

Development Bank of Japan Research Report/ No. 41

21

recycling cost when the framework was introduced. This reduction in recycling cost is considered to be the result of the introduction by
ARN of rigorous bid systems for the transportation and processing/disposal work for
end-of-life vehicles and the reduction in thecertification fee through volume discount negotiations with the certification bodies. However,another factor is that in the Netherlands thenumber of newly registered vehicles is larger
than that of domestically recycled vehicles as aresult of used vehicle exports. According to
ARN, the current level of 45 euro per vehicle isconsidered very low because it is less than
0.25% of the average new automobile purchaseprice, and there has been no particular collection-related problem because all purchasers of
new automobiles bear the recycling cost andthus they do not feel that they are unfairly exploited.

three-part approach: 1) theoretically calculating
the total volumes of each material/component
generated out of the end-of-life vehicles fromthe numbers of end-of-life vehicles accepted byindividual business entities, 2) determining thetotal volumes of each material/component actually collected in the dismantling stage based on
quantity data from the transporters contractedwith ARN, and 3) confirming the volumes accepted by the recyclers based on the certificatesof acceptance issued by them. These processes
are all performed using a centralized computer
database system. Qualitative information obtained through on-site office inspection andother activities is regarded as supplementarydata.
The recycling cost is calculated by ARN.
This is achieved by projecting the numbers ofautomobiles that become end-of-life vehicles in
the future through a comprehensive analysis
based on the number of vehicles imported, thenumber of vehicles exported, the average periods of use, and other factors, and then calculating the total cost required for recycling from the
projected numbers. It is worth noting that therecycling cost has dropped gradually as the newframework has taken root. As shown in Figure
2-2, the recycling cost was 250 guilders per vehicle when the new framework was introduced
in January 1995, but dropped to 150 guilders inJanuary 1998 and then to 45 euro (100 guilders)in January 2001, which is less than half of the

2.4

Future Prospects of the New
Framework

In the case of the Netherlands, the impacts ofimplementing the ELV Directive through its
domestic laws are not expected to be strong,
because the country’s existing framework is
generally compatible with the ELV Directive.
However, the Netherlands is bound to face thechallenge of developing a domestic processing
and disposal infrastructure for automobile

Guilder
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
95-97

98-00

01-03

Year

Figure 2-2 Changes in End-of-Life Vehicle Processing and Disposal Fee
Source: ARN, “Milieuverslag Environmental Report.”
22

Development Bank of Japan Research Report/ No. 41

Table 2-4

Changes in Recycling Rates in The Netherlands
1998
kg

Average weight of end-of-life vehicle

1999
%

kg

2000
%

kg

%

887

100.0

896

100.0

906

100.0

665

75.0

672

75.0

679

74.9

Recycling

762

85.9

771

86.0

779

86.0

Residue

125

14.1

125

14.0

127

14.0

Average weight of end-of-life vehicle interms of metals contained

Source: ARN, “Milieuverslag Environmental Report.”

shredder residue (ASR) as the country strives toraise the recycling rate to 95% in the future.
So far, there is no appropriate domestic
ASR processing technology in the country, and
ASR is being landfilled domestically or transported to Germany, where ASR can be processed and disposed of at relatively low costs,
with the domestic recycling rate remaining at
86% as shown in Table 2-4. ARN considers thatthe country needs to introduce an ASR recycling technology in the future to improve thedomestic recycling rate and is closely watching
technological developments in Japan.
3. End-of-Life Vehicle Recycling in Germany
and the ELV Directive
3.1

History of End-of-Life Vehicle Recycling Efforts in Germany

Let us now review the case of Germany. As
shown in Figure 2-3, the number of automobiles registered in Germany is currently morethan 50 million, with passenger vehicles accounting for slightly more than 80% at 43 million. The per capita number of automobiles is0.5, and the number of automobiles per household has already exceeded one. Contrary to theNetherlands, the automobile and auto parts industries account for a large proportion of domestic production and employment in Germany(Table 2-5), and therefore implementing theconcept of extended producer responsibility in
automobile recycling in the country is a major
challenge from the viewpoint of industrial policy as well.
Recycling policies in Germany have beenformulated and implemented based on the 1996

Cyclical Economy and Waste Law as the corelegislation and by applying the principles ofextended producer responsibility provided forin the Law in such areas as container and packaging and biological waste by means of specialized laws.
Recycling of end-of-life vehicles (whichconstitute the most important category of
post-consumer waste (PCW)) is no exception,and based on the Cyclical Economy and Waste
Law, the “Legislative Ordinance concerning
Delivery and Environmentally Friendly Processing and Disposal of End-of-Life Vehicles”(Verordnung über die Überlassung und umweltverträgliche Entsorgung von Altautos)(hereinafter referred to as the “End-of-Life Vehicle Ordinance”) was enacted in 1997 and put
into force in April 1998. Figure 2-4 shows theframework introduced by the End-of-Life Vehicle Ordinance.
To deregister an end-of-life vehicle10 inGermany, the last owner must deliver theend-of-life vehicle to a collection facility or
recycler that has been approved in accordancewith the requirements stipulated in the relevant
laws. When the last owner has delivered theend-of-life vehicle to such a facility or recycler
appropriately, he or she is issued with a certificate of recycling (Verwertungsnachweis). Thisis a mandatory document for the deregistration
procedure, and the automobile tax continues tobe levied on the last owner unless he or she
submits this document. Thus the system is designed to ensure that all or most end-of-life

10

The term “vehicle” here means commercial vehicles
weighing less than 3.5 tons and passenger vehicles.
Development Bank of Japan Research Report/ No. 41

23

1,000 vehicles%
14

60,000Unification of East and West Germany

1250,00010
40,000830,000
6
20,0004
10,000

2
0

19
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
9
20 9
00

0

Passenger vehicles
TrucksOthersRate of increase/decrease (total, right scale)

Omnibus-type vehicles
Motorbikes and motor cycles
Rate of increase/decrease (passenger vehicles, right scale)Figure 2-3 Changes in Numbers of Automobiles in Germany
Source: Prepared by the Development Bank of Japan from Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt data.

Table 2-5 Share of Automobile Industries as Percentage ofGerman Manufacturing Industries (1999)
Manufacturingindustries total

Automobile and autoparts manufacturingindustries

Percentage(%)

Number of offices and facilities

46,8841,072

2.3

Number of employees (1,000 people)

6,239

755

12.1

Wage (DM 100 million)

4,123

595

14.4

Sales (DM 100 million)

23,172

3,985

17.2

34.5

55.3

－

Exports (%)
Source: Statistisches Bundesamt.

vehicles are channeled to the appropriate processing and disposal infrastructure.
On the other hand, with regard to business
entities that accept end-of-life vehicles, rigorous approval requirements with respect to thecompany size, facilities and the level of processing technology were imposed, and the approved business entities were required to remove liquids and hazardous substances andcollect components and materials using appropriate methods, and in the case of shredding
24

Development Bank of Japan Research Report/ No. 41

companies, to reduce the final disposal volume.
Whether such business entities are meetingthese requirements or not is continually monitored, but the monitoring work is done not byan administrative agency but by monitoring
bodies authorized by the Chamber of Commerce, etc.

Framework based on the End-of-Life Vehicle OrdinanceDeregistration*(Certificate of recycling is required)

Last owner(Letzthalter)
Delivery of end-oflife vehicle
accompanied by fee
payment

Transport Office(StrassenverkehrsZulassungsordnung)Fee paymentbased delivery

Stop taxation

Approved
collection facility(anerkannte
Annahmestelle)
15,000 facilities

Tax Office

Monitoring body(Überwachungsorganisation)

Contract

Chamber ofCommerce
German Credit
Committee

Certificate of recycling**
Contracting out
processing work

Cancellation of
insurance

Insurance company

Approved recycler(anerkannte
Verwertungsbetrieben)
1,000 recyclers

Contracting out
processing
work

Approved shredding company(anerkannte
Shredderbetrieben)
65 companies* The last owner may contract his or her deregistration work to an approved collection facility or approved recycler.
** In the case of delivery to an approved collection facility, the certificate of recycling is issued after the contracting of the processing
work to an approved recycler.
Voluntary control measures by the automobile industry(German Association of Auto Industries, 15 related economic organizations)・ To promote recycling and optimize material circulation in order to conserve disposal facility capacities and resources.
・ To establish a framework for the recycling of components and materials that have traditionally been disposed of, with a particular emphasis on
the recycling of ASR.
・ Development of a comprehensive infrastructure spanning diverse industries to collect and recycle end-of-life vehicles and used components
arising from repairs of privately owned vehicles.
・ Introduction of recycling-oriented designs for constant improvement of recycling rates.
・ To develop systems to ensure that all or most end-of-life vehicles and non-reusable components and materials are channeled to environmentallyfriendly processing and disposal facilities.
・ To reduce the volume of waste arising from end-of-life vehicles to 15% per manufacturer by 2002 and to 5% per manufacturer by 2015.
・ Acceptance of producer liability based on the Cyclical Economy and Waste Law.

Figure 2-4 Germany’s Automobile Recycling Framework before the EU Directive
Source: Prepared by the Development Bank of Japan from various literatures and data.

The intent of the Ordinance is to develop alegal framework to achieve appropriate processing and disposal of end-of-life vehicles. In
terms of specific measures, the following
achievements have been made under the Ordinance:
1) Unification of conditions for competition in
the area of processing and disposal of
end-of-life vehicles to make it easier forprocessing and disposal business entities tomake facility investment decisions;2) Provision of supplementary systems to coverthose areas that are not covered by the voluntary control efforts by the automobile industry (the voluntary control efforts will be
discussed later);3) Entrustment of the monitoring work to a
specialized monitoring body to reduce theadministration’s burden of monitoring; and
4) Imposition of environmental requirementson collection facilities, recyclers, and shredding companies.
Thus the End-of-Life Vehicle Ordinance ismainly concerned with raising the level of dismantlers and shredding companies as the processing infrastructure and ensuring that all ormost end-of-life vehicles are channeled to theright processing and disposal flow, with producers including automobile manufacturers
playing very limited roles. The reason for this is

Development Bank of Japan Research Report/ No. 41

25

the voluntary control measures adopted by theautomobile
industry(dieFreiwillige
Selbstverpflichtung der Automobilindustrie;
FSV) that were agreed in February 1996 prior to
the Ordinance. As outlined in Figure 2-4, theautomobile industry in Germany set the goal of
improving the recycling rate from approximately
75% by weight at the time, to 85% by 2002, andthen to as high as 95% by 2015 and reached anagreement that requires the automobile manufacturers to 1) accept end-of-life vehicles originally produced by them for an appropriate acceptance fee, 2) accept free of charge end-of-life
vehicles of less than 12 years old put on themarket from April 1998, and 3) report the progress status of these activities to the government
every two years in the form of a monitoring report. In the automobile recycling framework developed in Germany, these voluntary control
measures are the “main arteries”, and the activities under the End-of-Life Vehicle Ordinancesupplement these measures as “veins”, encompassing matters not covered by them.
This is a pragmatic approach, characteristicof a country whose automobile industry represents a large percentage of its manufacturingindustries as a whole; the development and implementation of automobile recycling promotion measures were left to the discretion of theautomobile industry in consideration of theharsh competitive environment in the industry,rather than imposing an excessively rigorous
extended producer responsibility scheme aheadof other EU countries. However, the approachof letting the interested industries introduce
voluntary control measures under an administrative agreement and report the progress status
regularly in the form of a monitoring report has
been used in construction material recycling
and other areas as well, and, like introduction of
dedicated individual measures for control, is not
an exceptional one in the country’s environmental policies.11

11

For trends in construction material recycling in Germany, refer to Takegahara (2002) in the list of references.
26

Development Bank of Japan Research Report/ No. 41

3.2

Development of Processing and Disposal Infrastructure in Germany

The combined use of voluntary control measures by the automobile industry and theEnd-of-Life Vehicle Ordinance in Germany
established a framework to promote recycling
and accelerated the development of the country’s automobile recycling infrastructure. As aresult, an infrastructure comprising 15,000 approved collection facilities, more than 1,000
approved recyclers, and 65 approved shredding
companies has been developed, as shown in
Figure 2-4.12
What is the processing and disposal design
capacity of this infrastructure? The numbers ofcompanies and facilities mentioned above are
the results of investment decisions made by
private companies based on their own market
research data and there is no data on the originally envisioned market size, but we can makesome deductions from the related data. Figure
2-5 shows changes in the number of newly registered vehicles in Germany (the plots before
the year of unification are data for the former
West Germany and those after the year of unification are data for he unified Germany). Except for a sharp rise at the time of unification,
as a whole there has been a gradual increase in
the number of newly registered vehicles and thenumber is currently slightly less than 4 million
per year. Figure 2-6 shows changes in thenumber of vehicles deregistered over the same
period. It can be seen from the figure thatroughly 3.5 million vehicles are being deregistered annually, but Figure 2-7 shows that the
number of deregistered vehicles relative to thatof newly registered vehicles has been increasing in recent years as the market matures, whichmeans that automobile demand has been driven
mainly by replacement needs. Figure 2-8 showschanges in the share of the number of deregistered vehicles as a percentage of the total stocks,
indicating that the stock is diminishing by approximately 8% every year.

12“Referat Öffentlichkeitsarbeit Art.-Nr.: 2305,” Environmental Agency of the Federal Republic of Germany.

1,000 vehicles
4,500
Unification

4,000
3,500
3,000
2,500
2,000
1,500
1,000
500

19
5
19 0
5
19 5
6
19 0
6
19 5
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99

0
Year

Figure 2-5 Changes in Number of Newly Registered Vehicles in Germany(Passenger Vehicles)
Source: Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt.

4,500

1,000 vehicles

%
10

4,000

9

3,500

8
7

3,000

6

2,500

5
2,000

4

1,500

OthersMotorcycles and motorbikes
TrucksOmnibus-type vehicles
Passenger vehicles
Rate of deregistration (total, right scale)
Rate of deregistration (passenger vehicles, right scale)

1,000
500
0

3
2
1
0

71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99
Year

Figure 2-6 Changes in Number of Vehicles Deregistered in Germany
Source:Prepared by the Development Bank of Japan from Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt data.

Development Bank of Japan Research Report/ No. 41

27

120

%
Number of deregistered vehicles / number of newly registered vehicles

100

80

60

40

20

0
55 60 65 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99
19 19 19 19Year

Figure 2-7 Number of Deregistered Vehicles Relative to Number of Newly Registered Vehicles
Source:

30

25

20

Prepared by the Development Bank of Japan from Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt data.

%
Rate of deregistration (passenger vehicles, right scale)
Omnibus-type vehicles
TrucksMotorcycles and motorbikes
OthersRate of deregistration (total, right scale)

15

10

5

0

71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99
Year

Figure 2-8 Changes in Deregistration Rate by Vehicle Type
Note: Deregistration rate = number of vehicles deregistered / total stock in the previous year
Source: Prepared by the Development Bank of Japan from Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt data.

28

Development Bank of Japan Research Report/ No. 41

Table 2-6

①
②
③
④
⑤
⑥
①/⑤

②/⑤
⑤/③
⑤/④
⑤/⑥
①/⑥
②/⑥

①
②
③
④
⑤
⑥
①/⑤

②/⑤
⑤/③
⑤/④
⑤/⑥
①/⑥
②/⑥

Number of registered vehicles(stock)Number of finally deregisteredvehiclesArea
Population
Number of end-of-life vehicle
collection facilities
Number of end-of-life vehicle
recyclers
Number of registered vehicles per
end-of-life vehicle collection facility
Number of deregistered vehicles
per end-of-life vehicle collection
facility
Area per end-of-life vehicle collection facility
Population per end-of-life vehicle
collection facility
Number of end-of-life vehicle
collection facilities per recycler
Number of registered vehicles per
recycler
Number of deregistered vehicles
per recycler

Number of registered vehicles(stock)Number of finally deregisteredvehiclesArea
Population
Number of end-of-life vehicle
collection facilities
Number of end-of-life vehicle
recyclers
Number of registered vehicles per
end-of-life vehicle collection facility
Number of deregistered vehicles
per end-of-life vehicle collection
facility
Area per end-of-life vehicle collection facility
Population per end-of-life vehicle
collection facility
Number of end-of-life vehicle
collection facilities per recycler
Number of registered vehicles per
recycler
Number of deregistered vehicles
per recycler

Automobile Recycling in Germany by Land

SchleswigHolstein

Hamburg

1,443,006

708,618

108,860
15,770.47
2,756,473

BadenWürttemberg

Niedersachsen

NordrheinWestfalen

RheinlandPfalz

294,0024,167,188

8,959,535

2,172,161

590,7645,548,444

58,132755.201,704,731

25,964404.23
673,883

311,639
47,612.24
7,845,398

717,32134,077.70
17,974,487

179,467
19,846.50
4,017,828

51,5762,570.15
1,080,790

447,218
35,751.76
10,396,610

238

42

10

271

793

169

103

482

41

24

7

97

236

91

8

123

6,063

16,872

29,40015,377

11,29812,853

5,736

11,511

457

1,384

2,596

1,150

905

1,062

501

928

66

18

40

176

43

117

25

74

11,58240,58967,38828,95022,666

23,774

10,493

21,570

6.8

4.7

1.7

3.4

3.7

2.1

12.9

4.3

39,00035,43049,00045,29540,54024,406

73,84553,167

2,942

2,906

4,327

3,387

3,245

2,016

6,447

4,065

MecklenburgVorpommern

Sachsen-Anhalt

HessenThüringen

Sachsen

BayernBremenSaarland

Brandenburg

Berlin1,294,419

1,185,289

843,236

1,256,307

3,320,305

1,206,714

2,165,585

6,573,044

109,758
29,475.72
2,573,291

100,412890.86
3,425,759

311,639
23,170.24
1,807,799

107,637
20,447.46
2,701,690

266,548
21,114.45
6,031,705

105,968
16,170.88
2,478,148

187,314
18,412.71
4,522,412

540,680
70,550.87
12,066,375

213

41

134

41

187

443

578

1,114

82

18

33

59

58

79

80

157

6,077

28,9096,293

30,642

17,756

2,724

3,747

5,900

515

2,449

2,326

2,625

1,425

239

324

485

138

22

173

499

113

37

32

63

12,081

83,555

13,49165,89532,255

5,594

7,824

10,832

3.6

3.1

4.5

0.8

3.5

6.7

7.4

7.7

16,81065,84926,351

22,04058,25017,48827,76450,562

1,425

5,578

9,738

1,888

4,676

1,535

2,401

3,754

Source: Arbeitsgemeinschaft Altauto, “ARGE-Altauto.”

Development Bank of Japan Research Report/ No. 41

29

If we assume that the share of the numberof vehicles channeled to the recycling framework, as a percentage of the total number of
deregistered vehicles, is 80%, then the numberof vehicles processed and disposed of within
the framework is about 2.8 million (3.5 million
× 0.80) per year, which means that the numberof vehicles handled by one approved recycler,
calculated by dividing 2.8 million by the number of approved recyclers (1,000), is only about
2,800 (230 vehicles per month). Although there
are regional variations as shown in Table 2-6, it
is clear that recyclers in Germany are mostly
small- and medium-sized enterprises. The sameconclusion can be drawn from the amount ofmoney involved. Under the old framework, lastowners were required to pay the recycling costat the time of delivery to recyclers(post-payment system), although there weresome exceptions. As the average recycling costis estimated to be around DM 200/vehicle toDM 300/vehicle, if we assume that the numberof vehicles processed and disposed of is about
2.8 million, the size of the automobile recycling
market in terms of the processing and disposal
fee is approximately DM 500 million/year toDM 800 million/year (30 to 48 billion yen/year).
Although this is the size of the market expressed only in terms of the processing anddisposal fee and it is necessary to add themoney involved in the downstream part ofautomobile recycling such as the selling of
dismantled components and materials, the sizeof the market is not very large considering thefact that there are 1,000 or more recyclers andshredding companies making facility investments to meet the rigorous requirements. Furthermore, the above figures assume that theshare of the number of vehicles channeled to
the recycling framework as a percentage of thetotal number of deregistered vehicles is 80%. In
reality, however, the number of vehicles channeled to the proper processing and disposal
flow established under the End-of-Life Vehicle
Ordinance has been lower than expected fromthe beginning, and recyclers have been forced
to live with low capacity utilization rates.

30

Development Bank of Japan Research Report/ No. 41

3.3

Problems

The recycling framework using voluntary control measures and the End-of-Life Vehicle Ordinance in combination have achieved somesuccess in terms of two of its objectives,
namely, the unification of conditions for competition in the area of processing and disposal
and the development of a processing and disposal infrastructure. In addition, in terms ofprocessing technologies, technological development has been stimulated in the area of ASR
recycling (Verwertung) which is regarded as
the biggest challenge in automobile recycling,and some of these efforts have led to new businesses such as Schwarzpumpe’s commercial
production of methanol utilizing thermal decomposition of ASR.
However, this framework is of limited effectiveness regarding the objective of ensuringthat most, if not all, end-of-life vehicles arechanneled to the developed processing and disposal framework.
According to the 2000 Edition of the Annual Environmental Report (Umweltgutachten)
submitted to the German parliament, the volume of end-of-life vehicles (non-reusable
components and materials) going to German
shredding companies has been declining
sharply since the early 1990s. The 2000 Environmental Report states that the number of
end-of-life vehicles recycled at domestic shredding companies in 1996 represents less than one
sixth of the 3,140,000 vehicles deregistered in
the same year and that “although there is noconclusive data on the final destinations of the
deregistered vehicles, these figures suggest thatthe existing framework based on voluntary control measures and the End-of-Life Vehicle Ordinance that supplements them has a serious
defect.” The defect referred to here is the institutional problem whereby the last owner is relieved of the responsibility to pay the automobile tax without obtaining a certificate of recycling by following the Destination Reporting
Procedure (Verbleibserklärung) similar to thetemporary deregistration system in Japan. Thus,
many owners have taken advantage of this system to avoid paying the recycling cost at thetime of deregistration, thereby reducing theInsurancecompany

Registration
officeAutomobile Agency of theFederal Republic of
Germany (KBA)

Selling

Unregistered export

Tax Office?
Administration
authority

Deregistration(2,980,000 vehicles)

End user(3,200,000 vehicles)

Contracting of processing anddisposal to non-certified business
entities (illegal)

Contracting of processing
and disposal to certified
business entities(180,000 vehicles)

Registered export*(40,000 vehicles)

Stolen* As end-of-life vehicles exported under the registered export system are only those end-of-life vehicles whose prices arehigher than a certain level, only the number of certain end-of-life vehicles with high added value is known.
The figure shown is that for 1996.

Figure 2-9 Flow of End-of-Life Vehicles
Source: Environmental Agency of the Federal Republic of Germany, “Anforderungen an das Monitoring im Rahmen der
Verwertung langlebiger, technisch komplexer Produkte am Beispiel des Altautos.”

number of end-of-life vehicles channeled to theproper recycling flow developed under theabove-mentioned framework. The major causeof this problem is the strong demand from Central and Eastern European countries for German
used vehicles, resulting from liberalization inthese countries.
This problem can also be confirmed from themonitoring report13 published under the automobile manufacturers’ voluntary control
scheme. Figure 2-9 shows destinations of the
deregistered automobiles shown in the monitoring report. According to this report, the destinations of the vast majority of the 3,200,000
vehicles deregistered in 1996 have not been
confirmed, with the sole exception of the
180,000 end-of-life vehicles exported under the13
The following is based on a report from the Environmental Agency of the federal government that is entitled“Anforderungen an das Monitoring im Rahmen der Verwertung langlebiger, technisch komplexer Produkte am
Beispiel das Altautos.”registered export system.14 It is not clear how
many end-of-life vehicles have been recycled
domestically, partly because of the absence of abody to centrally manage recycling certificate
information. Although various reports havebeen published that provide some figures on
this matter15 other than the monitoring report,none of them are well-grounded.
14

An attempt was made to estimate the number of vehicles for which certificates of recycling had been issued
and which had been processed and disposed of appropriately through surveys based on questionnaires to dismantlers and shredding companies, but no conclusion was
obtained due to the general lack of data.
15
For example, the estimates published by the Ministryof Economy and other organizations that are cited by theabove-mentioned report also vary, with the following four
figures presented: 1,200,000, 1,400,000, 1,200,000 –
2,670,000, and 1,980,000 – 2,270,000. BVSE, an association of small- and medium-sized recyclers, has reported
that the share of the number of end-of-life vehicles handled by domestic shredding companies as a percentage ofthe total number of end-of-life vehicles was about 20%.
This is consistent with the level mentioned in theabove-mentioned Environmental Report.
Development Bank of Japan Research Report/ No. 41

31

The Environmental Committee Report mentioned above states that measures should betaken as soon as possible to clarify the destinations of the deregistered vehicles in order toimprove the effectiveness of the existing
framework and suggests several measures including modification of the temporary deregistration system to make it more rigorous. It also
points out that the present framework lacks incentives for automobile manufacturers to pursue environmentally-friendly designs.
3.4

The New Framework under the ELV
Directive

The ELV Directive will be implemented
through domestic legislation against this background. Although some elements of the ELV
Directive, such as the imposition of a legal obligation to recycle automobiles on the automobile manufacturers as well, are not fully consistent with the existing framework in Germany,
there is no significant difference in terms of theTable 2-7

basic intent and direction if the voluntary control scheme is taken into consideration. Therefore, it has been decided to implement the ELV
Directive through domestic legislation by
amending the End-of-Life Vehicle Ordinanceand relevant laws (the Commercial Law, Tax
Law, and Traffic Law). Table 2-7 outlines the
new End-of-Life Vehicle Ordinance. As the
new End-of-Life Vehicle Ordinance focuses on
rectifying the problems of the old frameworkthat have been identified in addition to implementing the ELV Directive through domestic
legislation, the part of the new End-of-Life Vehicle Ordinance that has been newly introduced
under the ELV Directive and the part aimed at
modifying existing systems are shown separately for ease of understanding.
The main elements that have been newly
introduced under the ELV Directive are theprovision for free-of-charge acceptance of
end-of-life vehicles and those relating to thebearing of the costs of acceptance and recyclingthat is associated with the imposition of the ob-

Outline of the New End-of-Life Vehicle Ordinance[Changes to implement the ELV Directive through domestic legislation] → Articles 1 to 3 of the Proposal for Amendment
1) In principle, the last owner may have his or her end-of-life vehicle accepted by the manufacturer or importer for free.
In the case of a vehicle that was sold before July 1, 2002, this provision is applied from 2007.
2) The manufacturers and importers of private use automobiles and mini-sized commercial vehicles are required to accept
and appropriately recycle vehicles they sold when they have become end-of-life vehicles. The costs of acceptance andrecycling are borne by the manufacturers and importers.
3) Beginning in 2006, a legal obligation to achieve a recycling rate of 85% per end-of-life-vehicle, calculated as a percentage of the average weight, will be imposed, with the condition that the recycling of materials and components must account for 80% or more. This will be raised to 95% (total recycling rate) or 85% (recycling rate for materials and components) by 2015.
4) Beginning on July 1, 2003, the use of cadmium, mercury, lead, and hexavalent chromium in automobiles and automobile
components will be banned with certain exceptions.
5) When a manufacturer or importer has to set up a reserve to comply with the obligation to accept and recycle automobiles,
the reserve for the automobiles sold before July 1, 2002 is forcefully put on the Tax Law-based balance sheet. By thesame token, a reserve is set up on the Commercial Law-based balance sheet (an equal amount is put on the list of asset
items as a pseudo balance sheet item).
[Modification of existing systems to improve the effectiveness of the existing framework] → Article 4 of the Proposal for
Amendment
The deregistration system is changed to require the last owner to follow the following procedures, irrespective of whether
the deregistration is based on an application by the last owner or due to expiration of the period of a temporary deregistration (amendment of Article 27a of the Road Traffic Permission Rules, etc.):
1) In the case where the last owner delivers his or her end-of-life vehicle to an approved recycler, the deregistration process
is completed upon presentation of the original of the certificate of recycling.
2) In the case where the last owner wishes to dispose of his or her end-of-life vehicle as other than waste or take it to anothercountry for disposal, the last owner or other responsible person is required to submit a letter of explanation stating theirreasons to the registration office. The registration office completes the deregistration process through this procedure.
Source: Prepared by the Development Bank of Japan.
32

Development Bank of Japan Research Report/ No. 41

ligation to recycle automobiles. Because thesecosts are borne by automobile manufacturers
and importers, reserves will be set up in their
non-consolidated and consolidated accounts
that cover the costs incurred by them for the
automobiles they have sold.
The new End-of-Life Vehicle Ordinance 1)
makes amendments to the Commercial Law(Accounting Rules) that are necessary to establish this reserve system, 2) allows “reserves for
uncertain or unfixed debts” that are intended tocover the costs of free-of-charge acceptance
and/or recycling of vehicles sold before July 1,
2002 to be set up (Article 1), and 3) makes
amendments to the relevant provisions of the
Tax Law that are necessary to establish the reserve system for the Tax Law-based balance
sheet (Article 2). As it is stated in the EC Accounting Strategy of the European Committeethat the International Accounting Standard(IAS) will be used as the basic standard forconsolidated accounts of companies based in
the EU from 2005, the reserve-related provisions of the new End-of-Life Vehicle Ordinance are designed to be compatible with the
IAS (IAS37).

The modification of existing systems to
improve the effectiveness of the framework iscentered around changes to ensure that all ormost end-of-life vehicles are channeled to theproper recycling flow. These changes are expected to bring significant improvements because the introduction of the legal obligation toaccept end-of-life vehicles free of charge andthe modification of the recycling cost collection
system from a post-payment-based system to apre-payment-based one are expected to serve as
strong disincentives against disposal of
end-of-life vehicles outside the proper recycling
system and the changes to the post factum certification procedure for deregistration rectified
the problem in relation to the temporary deregistration system of the old framework (Article
4).
In general, the new End-of-Life Vehicle
Ordinance aims to make the best use of the recycling infrastructure developed under the oldframework by increasing the involvement of“artery” side factors such as automobile manufacturers and increasing the flow of end-of-life
vehicles from last owners (Figure 2-10).

(Framework based on the new End-of-Life Vehicle Ordinance)
Imposition of a legal obligation toaccept end-of-life vehicles for free
Review and improvement of thetemporary deregistration and othersystems

Disincentives against illegal dumping andillegal exports
Establishment of a system to ensure that allor most end-of-life vehicles are channeledto the appropriate recycling flow

Introduction of a recycling cost reserve system(Amendments to the Commercial Law and Tax Law)

Determination of target
recycling rates

Enhancement of the involvement of
manufacturers
Involvement of “artery” side factors

Hazardous substanceregulations

More and stronger incentives for
manufacturers to pursue
recycling-oriented designs
Competition among companies(Existing framework)
Cyclical Economy and Waste Law(Increasing the liability of business entities
that generate/discharge waste)

Waste Disposal Business
Entity OrdinanceHigher levels of dismantling,processing, and disposal

Enhancement of automobile recycling

Figure 2-10 Germany’s Automobile Recycling Framework under
the New End-of-Life Vehicle Ordina
Source:Prepared by the Development Bank of Japan.
Development Bank of Japan Research Report/ No. 41

33

3.5

Impacts of the New Framework

The introduction of the new framework willbring various economic and financial impacts
due to the imposition on manufacturers of obligations to accept end-of-life vehicles for freeand bear the cost of recycling, as manufacturers
have not been subjected to regulation under theold framework.
1) Financial Impacts
Possible financial impacts are 1) reductions intax revenues of the federal government and theLands due to the creation of the reserve systemand the introduction of tax credits and 2) increases in administrative costs associated withthe enforcement of the new regulations. With
regard to tax revenues, the Legislative Intents
Report of the Environmental Agency of thefederal government foresees that the total processing and disposal cost will reach DM 800
million (approx. 48 billion yen) per year after
the introduction of the system to impose theobligation to accept end-of-life vehicles for freethat is scheduled to take place in 2007 and will
generally remain at that level thereafter. The
reductions in tax revenues due to the resultant
deductions are expected to amount to approximately DM 500 million per year in the period
between 2002 and 2007. The increases in administrative costs associated with the enforcement of the new regulations are expected arise
mainly from the monitoring work by the Land
governments. However, as the new End-of-Life
Vehicle Ordinance will bring administrative
improvements such as shifting the style ofmonitoring information relating to recycling
certificates, etc. from the disorganized traditional system comprising dispersed monitoring
offices to an efficient, centralized one with adedicated monitoring body, the additional costs
are unlikely to be very high.
2) Impacts on the Recycling Cost
The introduction of the new End-of-Life Vehicle Ordinance will establish a mechanism
which ensures that all or most end-of-life vehicles are channeled to the proper recycling flow
envisioned by the law.
However, the recycling cost is unlikely to

34

Development Bank of Japan Research Report/ No. 41

increase sharply, because in Germany, a good
processing and disposal infrastructure has beendeveloped under the old framework as explained earlier and the competition is fierce,
although future rises in the recycling cost are
unavoidable because it will be necessary to improve the level of the dismantling process andthe ASR recycling rate as the target recycling
rates rise. In particular, the introduction ofmuch stricter final disposal regulations up to200516 will have significant impacts because
they will make it more difficult to rely on landfilling for disposing of ASR. Therefore, the development of sophisticated ASR processing anddisposal technologies will attract much greaterattention in the near future.
3) Imposition on Manufacturers of Obligation to Bear Costs of Acceptance and Recycling of End-of-Life Vehicles and Passing
Costs onto Prices of New Vehicles
Automobile manufacturers and importers will
be obligated to bear the costs of recycling andfree-of-charge acceptance of end-of-life vehicles. The amounts of these costs will vary
among manufacturers and products and according to foreign demand for used vehicles,
demand for used components, effects of recycling-oriented designs, and other factors.
These costs are normally passed onto theprices of new automobiles, but whether this isdone for all of the costs or for just part of themwill be determined by the degree of acceptanceby the market. According to an estimate by theEnvironmental Agency of the federal govern16

This refers to the implementation of the EU Directive
on Disposal Facilities (1999/31/EG) through domestic
legislation and other regulatory measures. Landfilling inGermany is currently regulated under the “Landfilling
Ordinance” (Ablagerungs-Verordnung) that entered into
force in March 2001, the “Technical Guidelines on Special
Wastes” (TA Sonderabfall), and the “Technical Guidelines
on Household Waste” (TA Siedlungsabfall), but the EU
Directive is going to be added to these regulations in thenear future. This will effectively place a ban on the landfilling of liquid waste, explosive or flammable waste, infectious medical waste, used tires, etc. The Directive andthe regulations work together not only to tighten the disposal facility construction requirements, but also to require
existing disposal facilities to be closed down unless therequired measures are taken by the specified deadline. For
Germany’s policies relating to disposal facilities, refer to
Schnurer (2001) in the list of references.

ment, full internalization of these costs would
raise the price of a new automobile by about
DM 200. This means a markup of about 0.5%
for relatively inexpensive new automobiles witha selling price of about DM 40,000 (approx. 2.4
million yen). If the markup rate is of this magnitude, the costs can basically be fully passed
onto the prices of new automobiles because it iswell within the ordinary discount range (about3%), and therefore the obligation to recycle
automobiles will have relatively little impact on
new automobile sales.17
3.6

Future Challenges

The EU Directive will be implemented throughdomestic legislation in Germany making thebest use of the infrastructure developed under
the old End-of-Life Vehicle Ordinance. The
alleviation of burden on last owners by introducing the free-of-charge acceptance system is
expected to increase the number of vehicles
channeled to the proper recycling flow and help
improve recyclers’ facility utilization factors.
However, it also means that the volume of ASR
to be processed and disposed of within the
country will increase. As the target recycling
rates are sure to rise in the near future and the
Final Disposal Facility Ordinance will make itmuch more difficult to rely on landfilling for
disposal, more sophisticated ASR processing
and disposal technologies will need to be developed to reduce the markup on new vehicle
prices.

With regard to the administration of theframework, the most important question will be
how to achieve efficient monitoring taking into
consideration the increase in the number of
end-of-life vehicles processed and disposed ofwithin the country. The Environmental Agencyof the federal government (UBA) says that efficient monitoring of the recycling of end-of-life
vehicles involves closely tracking the flows of
the materials and components. The main purposes of this monitoring are: 1) to systematically confirm the movement of end-of-life vehicles to the appropriate processing system(Lenkungswirkung), 2) to check whether
end-of-life vehicles are being recycled effectively and successfully and whether hazardous
substances are being processed safely, and 3) toverify the compliance of the producers with
their obligations to control the generation ofwaste and pursue recycling-oriented designs.
However, it is not easy to collect all this information efficiently and cheaply for automobiles,
because they are products which are technologically complex and are used for many years.
Various issues remain, such as to what extent
the existing labeling standards for materials (e.g.
VDA, ISO) can be used to assess the results ofrecycling-oriented designs. It will be interesting
to observe how Germany develops its monitoring system for the new framework and how thesystem functions.

17
However, the problem remains that the markup accounts for a greater percentage of the selling price forsmaller, lower-priced vehicles than for luxury vehicles.

Development Bank of Japan Research Report/ No. 41

35

III Automobile Recycling andEnvironmental Industries
1. Comparison between Automobile Recycling Measures in Japan and European
Countries
1.1 Comparison between the Japanese
Framework and the Dutch and German
Frameworks
So far we have looked at policy-related measures and historical developments in Japan, theNetherlands, and Germany in the area of
end-of-life vehicle recycling, focusing on therecycling frameworks of the three countries.
Table 3-1 compares these frameworks. These
three frameworks have similar core elements
such as 1) free-of-charge acceptance by automobile manufacturers of end-of-life vehicles atTable 3-1

Comparison of the Frameworks Adopted by Japan, Germany, and The Netherlands
EuropeJapan
Free-of-charge acceptanceof end-of-life vehicles at
the time of deregistration

Guaranteed

Amendment of related laws Amendment of the Road Transand regulations
port and Motor Vehicle Law andthe establishment of an automobile weight tax refund system
Target recycling rates
defined by law

95% by 2015

Involvement of manufacturers

Acceptance of CFCs, airbags,
and automobile shredder residue

Fund management method
Control of hazardous
substances
Development of processing
and disposal flow system

Germany
Guaranteed

Amendment of the End-of-Life Vehicle Ordinance andthe Tax Law, amendment of the Commercial Law tocreate a reserve system, and amendment of the Traffic
Law to rectify the deficiencies relating to temporary
deregistration procedures
95% by 2015(energy collection: 10% or less)

The Netherlands
Guaranteed

Modifications to improve thederegistration and automobile
export systems
95% by 2015(energy collection: 10% or less)・ Automobile manufacturers are required to accept
end-of-life vehicles originally produced by them andrecycle the end-of-life vehicles appropriately.
－・ Automobile manufacturers are required to bear thecosts of acceptance and recycling of end-of-life vehicles.
Centralized management by aDistributed system for company-by-company allocation Centralized management by dedidedicated fund management bodycated fund management bodies(ARF, ARN)
Voluntary control
Control by law
Control by law
Introduction of permit systems
for dismantlers and shredding
companies

Monitoring system

Manifest-based control centeredaround a fund management body

Development of moresophisticated processing
and disposal technologies

Various technologies are being
developed including thermal
decomposition gasification
melting technologies.

Approval system based on the Waste Disposal Facility
Ordinance (with rigorous approval requirements on thescale of company, facility items, and the level of processing and disposal technology)
Possible improvement measures are being studied while
maintaining an enforcement mechanism centeredaround monitoring bodies authorized by the Chamberof Commerce, etc.

Permit system based on environmental standards

Some companies are producing methanol on a commercial basis utilizing thermal decomposition of ASR(e.g. Schwarzpumpe).

There is no appropriate domestic
ASR processing/disposal technology.

Source: Prepared by the Development Bank of Japan.

36

the time of deregistration and modification ofexisting deregistration systems and related tax
systems to ensure that all or most end-of-life
vehicles are channeled to a well-organized, sophisticated recycling flow system and 2) replacement of existing voluntary recycling rateschemes with compulsory target recycling rates
to improve recycling. The main differences arein technical areas such as the extent to which
the involvement of manufacturers is legally
specified and whether the use of hazardous
substances is legally banned.
At first glance, Japan’s manufacturer participation system appears to be limited in that it
obligates the automobile manufacturers to accept three kinds of materials, namely, CFCs,
airbags, and automobile shredder residue, thatarise from the dismantling of end-of-life vehicles. This approach of focusing on the threekinds of materials was adopted because, taking

Development Bank of Japan Research Report/ No. 41

A rigorous monitoring system
based on fully integrated use ofregistered information, information on the statuses of the processing and disposal work, andpremium payment

into consideration the inherent high potential of
end-of-life vehicle recycling, emphasis wasplaced on removing major obstacles to achieving smooth end-of-life vehicle recycling. In fact,
as these three kinds of materials are indeed major obstacles to achieving smooth end-of-life
vehicle recycling and, as will be explained later,
it is essential to take upstream measures such as
improving material compositions and developing easier-to-dismantle designs in order toachieve more sophisticated ASR processing,
there are unlikely to be significant differences
between the framework adopted by Japan andthose adopted by Germany and the Netherlands
in terms of manufacturer participation.
With regard to the management of themoney collected, it is sometimes argued that themagnitude of the incentive for automobile
manufacturers is different between a distributed,
company-by-company approach such as the one
adopted by Germany and a centralized approach using a fund management body (or bodies) such as the ones adopted by Japan and theNetherlands, but fund management methods
and promotion of competition in recycling
technologies are essentially two different things.
Although Japan’s approach is a centralized one,it recognizes that there are differences in thevolume of ASR generated and other aspects
among different automobiles and reflects suchdifferences in the collected fees, and thus is nodifferent from distributed approaches in termsof the magnitude of the incentive for manufacturers to pursue recycling-oriented designs.
With regard to means of controlling theuse of hazardous substances, the ELV Directive
has established the policy of banning the use oflead, mercury, cadmium, and hexavalent chromium while the Japanese approach is expected
to be based not on a legal ban but on voluntary
control measures. Whether to legally ban theuse of hazardous substances such as lead fromthe standpoint of preventing environmental impacts or continue to use them with rigorous
control measures is still being discussed, but asa high percentage of automobiles produced isexported and in view of the trend toward using
more standardized, interchangeable components
due to recent increases in international partnerships, the hazardous substances specified by the

ELV Directive as those to be banned will be
gradually replaced by substitutes in Japan aswell.
In the first place, EPR systems forpost-consumer waste recycling vary among
countries. They also vary depending on producttypes. For example, in the case of electrical andelectronic equipment, the EU’s Proposal for a
Directive on Waste Electrical and Electronic
Equipment seems to cover electrical and electronic equipment in general and be based on thepremise that municipalities’ infrastructures areused to collect electrical and electronic equipment that has become post-consumer waste,
while the Japanese legislation in this area focuses on four kinds of “large home appliances”
and requires retail outlets, etc. to bear the burden of collecting them when they have become
post-consumer waste. In addition, with regard
to fee collection, the Proposal for a Directive on
Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment envisions a pre-collection system, while Japan’sHome Appliance Recycling Law adopts apost-collection system. Compared to these differences, there are more similarities and common points than differences between end-of-life
vehicle recycling systems adopted by Japan andthose adopted by European countries, especiallyin view of differences in business environments
such as the export rate.
1.2

Common Challenges between Japanand European Countries

A comparison between end-of-life vehicle recycling policies and measures adopted by Japanand those adopted by the Netherlands and Germany reveals that Japan shares not only acommon direction but also a number of common future challenges with European countries.
Such common challenges can be largely divided into 1) the development of a sophisticatedprocessing and disposal flow system to which
end-of-life vehicles are to be channeled bymeans of policy measures, 2) the provision ofan effective and efficient built-in monitoring
system, and 3) the development of more sophisticated processing and disposal technologies.
As explained earlier, the Japanese andEuropean automobile recycling frameworks
Development Bank of Japan Research Report/ No. 41

37

incorporate measures to channel all or mostend-of-life vehicles to a sophisticated processing and disposal flow system such as the introduction of a free-of-charge acceptance system
and amendments to existing registration and tax
systems. It goes without saying that thesemeasures assume that there will be a sophisticated recycling infrastructure that warrants
them. Approaches taken by countries differ depending on the degree to which the “vein” side
infrastructure of the country has been developed. It is expected that even within the EU,
measures taken will be very different between
countries that have already achieved a certain
degree of success in the development of a good“vein” side infrastructure and those that havenot. In the case of Japan, permit systems for
dismantlers and shredding companies will be
introduced through a new law. Although therequirements have yet to be determined, efforts
are already beginning to be seen in Japan toward achieving higher levels of dismantling in
anticipation of the establishment of a sophisticated infrastructure as will be explained later.
The development of detailed designs of systems
that can support such moves and the implementation of such systems are awaited.
With regard to the provision of an efficientmonitoring system, no consensus has beenreached yet as to the ideal role and functions ofan efficient monitoring system even in the EUthat has the ELV Directive which imposes amonitoring obligation on the member states.
This is because, unlike the monitoring of recycling of products and materials that can beachieved only by means of calculations basedon quantitative measurements (e.g. the volumeof recycled waste as a percentage of the total
volume of waste generated) such as containerand packaging materials, the monitoring of recycling of automobiles and electrical and electronic equipment entails qualitative monitoring
activities such as confirming the rate ofachievement of the recycling of valuable materials, verifying completion of the processing
work to turn the generated hazardous waste into
innocuous waste, and verifying whether the
producer is fulfilling its obligation to ensurethat its designs incorporate measures to reducethe volume of the waste generated when the38

Development Bank of Japan Research Report/ No. 41

products become post-consumer waste and arecompatible with recycling. The development ofmethods and techniques for efficient and effective monitoring of automobile recycling would
certainly be a cumbersome task, considering thefact that automobiles are technologically complex products with a long service life and acomplex “reverse flow.” In Japan, a manifest-based monitoring system centered around afund management body will likely be introduced, and it will be interesting to see whether
Japan can develop it into a successful one likethat of the Netherlands by introducing systems
to electronically manage information relating toreverse flow and to link monitoring with theregistration system.
Let us now look at the current situations
surrounding the third common challenge, thedevelopment of more sophisticated processing
and disposal technologies. As mentioned earlier,in EU countries and in Germany in particular,
the ongoing development of automobile recycling infrastructures is expected to increase thenumber of end-of-life vehicles processed anddisposed of domestically, and much attention is
being directed to ASR processing and disposal
technologies and other measures. The same istrue in Japan, where companies are competing
to develop new technologies with an emphasis
on improving the ASR recycling rate, to meetthe recycling rate requirements that are to belegally imposed in the future. Some of thesetechnologies are attracting attention from EU
countries, and although they were originallyspawned by the introduction of a formal system
for automobile recycling, they have a great potential to develop into a body of technologies
for environmental industries. Let us now take alook at some of the new technologies that havebeen emerging following the introduction of theAutomobile Recycling Law, focusing on recent
major developments in Japanese companies’
efforts to develop such technologies.

2. Automobile Recycling Law andEnvironmental Industries
2.1

Major Approaches to Development ofTechnologies for End-of-Life Vehicle
Recycling

In Japan, various technological development
efforts are being made to improve the recyclingof ASR and reduce the volume of ASR gener-

ated as a result of end-of-life vehicle recycling(Table 3-2). Current technological development
efforts for ASR recycling can be largely divided
into two categories: 1) those that seek to enhance ASR processing with given conditions ofvolume of ASR produced and ASR composition and 2) those that seek to reduce the volumeof ASR generated through upstream measures.

Table 3-2 Current Technological Development Efforts for End-of-Life Vehicle Recycling
ApproachName of business entity (plant
manufacturer / type)

Description

Operation status

Capacity

Recovers metals and polymeric materials throughcarefully sorted collection of ASR with finecategorization, and recycles them into raw materials
for automobile components, etc.

Demonstration: since
1995
Mass production: since1998

180,000 vehicles per year

Aomori Renewable Energy
Recovers high-temperature heat from melting furnaces
Recycling Co., Ltd(Ebara
by means of boilers and generates electricity using
Corporation / fluidized bed type) steam turbines. Comprises fluidized bed gasification
furnaces and rotating melting furnaces.

Since 2000
(Commercialization
phase)

Approx. 160,000 tons per year
(Mixed processing withsludge)Kanemura Co., Ltd.*
Recovers high-temperature heat from melting furnaces(Takuma Co., Ltd. / kiln type) by means of boilers and generates electricity using
steam turbines. Comprises indirect heating pyrolysis
drums and high-temperature combustion melting
furnaces.

Since 1998
(Commercialization
phase)

Approx. 30,000 tons per year

Eco Valley Utashinai
Recovers high-temperature heat from melting furnaces(Hitachi Metals Co., Ltd. / shaft by means of boilers and generates electricity using
type)
steam turbines. The entire process flow from drying topyrolysis gasification to melting is handled by a single
furnace.

Since 2002
(Commercialization
phase)

Approx. 60,000 tons per year

Achieving more sophisticated
ASR processing
Recycling of materials

Toyota Metals Co., Ltd.

Heat recovery
Gasification melting
techniques
Gasification combustion
techniqueGasification reform
technique

Nonferrous metal refining(Recycling ofmaterials and heat recovery)

NKK Corporation(shaft type)

Uses the product as flammable gas with no power
generated by a boiler. The entire process flow fromdrying to pyrolysis gasification to melting is handled
by a single furnace.

Since 1996
Approx. 80,000 tons per year
(Demonstration phase) (mixed processing with otherwastes)Kawasaki Steel Corporation(search-select type)

Gases generated by pyrolyzing and melting waste arereformed at high temperatures and recovered as refinedgases.

Since 1999
(Commercialization
phase)

Yamanaka Co., Ltd.
(Toshiba Corporation / PKA
type)

Gases generated in pyrolysis furnaces are reformed athigh temperatures into stable gases such as hydrogenand methane and recovered.

Since 2001
Approx. 20,000 tons per year
(Demonstration phase)

Approx. 110,000 tons per year
(mixed processing with otherwastes)Onahama Smelting and Refining Recovers valuable metals from the copper refining
Co., Ltd.
process and uses ASR as a substitute fuel for coal.

Since 1993

Approx. 180,000 tons per year

Kosaka Smelting and Refining Recovers valuable metals contained in ASR and uses
Co., Ltd.
the generated steam as a heat source for the adjoiningrefinery.

Since 2002

Approx. 50,000 tons per year

Since 2000

12,000 vehicles per year

Since 1995

24,000 vehicles per year

Reducing the volume of
ASR generated
Shredder-free dismantlingWest-Japan Auto RecycleCo., Ltd.

Removes reusable components at the time ofdismantling, presses the remainder into cubes, andprovides them to electric furnace manufacturers asmaterial for steel.

Dismantler established bydealers affiliated with
automobile manufacturers

Ibaraki Automobile Recycling A dismantler of a relatively large-scale was establishedCenter Co., Ltd.
by dealers affiliated with automobile manufacturers topromote proper recycling.

Glass recycling

Sheet glass manufacturers
A technology to recycle side and windshield glasses as
Since 1998
(Asahi Glass Co., Ltd. and other sheet glasses has been demonstrated.
Demonstration testing
sheet glass manufacturers)－* The company filed for Civil Rehabilitation Law bankruptcy protection in February 2002.
Source: Prepared by the Development Bank of Japan from publications, interviews, etc.

Development Bank of Japan Research Report/ No. 41

39

2.2 Approach Toward More Sophisticated
ASR Processing
1) Efforts Toward More SophisticatedSorted Processing of ASR
Technological development efforts to improve
ASR processing with given conditions of volume of ASR produced and ASR composition
are further divided into two subcategories: 1)
those focusing on material recycling1 technologies to recover valuable materials contained in
ASR and 2) those focusing on heat recovery2
technologies based on simultaneous pyrolysis
and gasification melting. A typical example ofthe former is the efforts by Toyota Metals Co.,
Ltd. shown in Figure 3-2. However, it is obvious that the thorough sorted collection of ASR
with fine categorization is not favorable interms of costs, and thus their efforts are presently focused on research and development ofrecycling-oriented designs whose outcomes are
fed back to the design departments of Toyota
Motor Corporation.
2) Gasification Melting
With regard to technological development efforts of the latter category, some of the ASR
gasification melting technologies are transitioning from the demonstration phase to thecommercialization phase and attracting both
domestic and international attention. In this area,
not only plant manufacturers such as Ebara
Corporation and Takuma Co., Ltd. but also
steel manufacturers such as NKK Corporation
and Kawasaki Steel Corporation are competing
to develop technologies to apply melting furnace technologies to ASR processing.
Pyrolysis gasification melting techniques
gasify garbage by roasting it at a temperature of
300 to 500℃, then melting and solidifying the1

In material recycling (also called “mechanical recycling”), thorough sorted collection of “base” materials
with fine categorization is made so that the recycled materials have the same composition as the base materials. The
recycled materials are used to produce new products ormixed with new materials of the same kind or of different
kinds to produce new products.
2
Heat recovery is the recovery of heat for power generation by means of incineration, gasification melting, etc.
It also includes the production of solid fuels (RDF) fromwaste.
40

Development Bank of Japan Research Report/ No. 41

residue using a high temperature of more than
1,000℃. As these techniques offer such advantages as little dioxin generation and easy recycling of by-products, they are being used inseveral areas as a new garbage disposal methods. However, it has been discovered that ASR
processing using these techniques involves
problems that impede the operation of the facility used due to the characteristics of ASR. For
example:1) There are large variations in properties depending on the selection and/or volume reduction method used;
2) The heating value and ash and salt contents
are 3 to 4 times and 5 to 10 times higher
than in the case of household garbage, respectively; and
3) Compared to household garbage, the contentsof metals that generate low-melting-point
substances when burnt such as Na, Cu, Zn, Fe,
and Al are about 10 to (nearly) 100 times
higher.
Thus the above-mentioned manufacturers
are currently developing and implementing
measures to solve these problems while building up their know-how.
For example, in the case of Ebara Corporation shown in Figure 3-2, they have encountered several problems due to the high PVC
content in ASR and the many heavy metals included in ASR including the deposition of
evaporated low-melting-point chlorides such as
ZnCl2 on the exhaust heat boiler (heat transfer
piping) and the generation of dioxins catalyzed
by copper oxides, and they have barely managed to bring the project to the operational
stage by taking measures such as expanding theboiler and adding a process to remove the deposited ash by using sound waves.
Japanese technologies in this area areahead of those of other countries, and manyinquiries have been received from EU countries.
These EU countries are acting now in anticipation of future increases in the number of
end-of-life vehicles domestically processed anddisposed of that will occur as a result of implementing the ELV Directive in these countries
through their domestic legislation. These technologies may also lead to new business oppor-

tunities in the future as they have the potential
to achieve technological innovations in the recycling of ASR, which is waste that is difficult
to process and dispose of, and such technological innovations can be used in other fields todevelop more sophisticated waste processing/disposal and recycling technologies.
3) ASR Recycling in the Nonferrous Metal
Refining Industry
In the nonferrous metal refining industry, there
have been many efforts to utilize existing technologies to recover rare metals from ASR and
use ASR as an energy source.
For example, Onahama Smelting and Refining Co., Ltd., whose main business is contracted refining of copper ore, has been using
ASR as fuel since 1993 as part of its drive tofind alternative fuels for the only operating reverberatory furnace3 in Japan. The company’s
processing capacity has increased to 10,000
tons per month from the initial capacity of
3,000 tons per month. Although they faced several problems as the capacity increased, such as
the adherence of dust on the boiler and thefraying of refractory bricks due to the gas processing, they have solved the problems such as
by introducing a spring hammer4 and adjusting
the oxygen concentration, and have achieved
stable operation of the system. The company
states that ASR is a very useful material because they can use it as a substitute for coal andextract copper at an average extraction rate of4%.
Similarly, Kosaka Smelting and Refining
Co., Ltd., which was spun off as a new company from Dowa Mining Co., Ltd. in 1990, hasentered the field of ASR processing in earnest
utilizing the know-how and expertise it accumulated in the rare metal recovery market, as it
is in the business of recovering rare metals from
cellular phones and waste printed circuit boards
utilizing its know-how and expertise in theprocessing of complex ores (ores with highcontents of impurities other than gold, silver,
and copper, such as arsenic). The company
plans to focus on the business of recovering
rare metals from ASR and processing ASR to
recover energy for reducing electricity consumption by utilizing its know-how accumulated in the processing of copper, lead, etc., aswell as its network of affiliated and partner
nonferrous metal refinery companies mainly in
the Dowa Group in the Tohoku area.5
A common point among nonferrous metal
refining companies with respect to ASR processing is the fact that they can take advantage of
their existing facilities and know-how. In fact,
in the case of Onahama Smelting and Refining
Co., Ltd., the only additional facilities for ASR
processing were stock areas (with a total capacity of 3,000 tons), belt conveyors to transport
ASR to the reverberatory furnace, and an industrial oxygen plant to make up for the shortage in calorific value that is inherent in a furnace that uses ASR. The company has beenable to pursue its pioneering efforts in ASR
processing because it is the only company inJapan that still has an obsolete furnace of thereverberatory type. By the same token, the entryof Kosaka Smelting and Refining Co., Ltd. into
the field of ASR processing would not havebeen possible without its accumulated
know-how and expertise in the recovery of rare
metals from complex ores and the network ofaffiliated and partner companies. Although theavailability of such existing facilities andknow-how is an advantage common among
nonferrous metal refining companies, thesecases represent a typical pattern of utilizing existing industrial infrastructures that concerns
environmental industries, as does the processing of used plastics using blast furnaces andcoke ovens.

5
3

Reverberatory furnace is a melting furnace that melts
ores, etc. using a special furnace ceiling which reflects theflames and heat generated onto the furnace floor. It is advantageous in that there is no risk of generation of dioxins,
because it operates continuously at a high temperature of
1,300℃.
4
A technique to remove dust by hitting the boiler with
an H-shaped steel hammer steel.

For example, the company contracts the processing ofhydroxides (Zn & Cd) it cannot process to Akita Zinc Co.,
Ltd. (Dowa Group), and the processing of zinc residue toHachinohe Refinery Co., Ltd. (Mitsui Group). The company is also pursuing effective utilization of the dust generated by contracting the processing of dust to produce
sulfuric acid, plaster, etc. to Nippon PGM Co., Ltd. (DowaGroup) and the processing of dust to produce electric lead,bismuth, etc. to Hachinohe Refinery Co., Ltd.

Development Bank of Japan Research Report/ No. 41

41

2.3

Comparison of Technologies Toward
More Sophisticated ASR Processing

As discussed in Chapter 1, the annual volumeof ASR generated is estimated to be approximately 800,000 tons, and is likely to remain at
this level. In addition, because the non-reusable
components of end-of-life vehicles are sometimes sent directly to electric furnaces or directly exported, the actual volume of ASR domestically processed and disposed of may actually be around 600,000 tons per year. Some ofthe plant manufacturers mentioned above are
cautious not to enter the field in haste on acommercial basis, even though they have completed demonstrations of their processing technologies, because ASR is a waste that is difficult to handle and the volume of ASR generated
will be limited.
How will ASR recycling infrastructuresdevelop as Japan’s automobile recycling
framework develops? Regarding long-term development, it is necessary to take into consideration the effects of future reductions in thevolume of ASR generated (which will be explained later). However, in the mid term (i.e.
the next 10 years or so), the development ofJapan’s end-of-life vehicle recycling infrastructure is expected to be driven mainly bygasification melting furnace and nonferrous
metal refining technologies, because the annual
volume of ASR generated is unlikely to change
significantly.

Table 3-3 shows a comparison between thetwo industries. Gasification melting furnaces
are advantageous in that there are few plant location-related constraints and they can handle
ASR and other wastes simultaneously (so theoperator does not have to rely entirely on the
ASR processing business). However, a large
initial investment is required to build the facilities from scratch. In addition, a careful feasibility study is essential to ensure profitability because the only sources of revenue will be processing fees and electricity sales.
On the other hand, nonferrous metal refineries do not have to worry about large initialinvestments. Many nonferrous metal refineries
have incorporated ASR processing as part oftheir main businesses to recover rare metals anduse the recovered energy to reduce energy costs.
Thus it is comparatively easier for them to recoup their investments and ensure profitability.
However, they have to develop systems to collect ASR and reduce physical distribution costs
because of location-related constraints.
In fact, the Onahama Smelting and Refining Co., Ltd. mentioned above has entered into
contracts with about 20 shredding companies toensure that a sufficient volume of ASR is collected, and has developed parking lots fortrucks and stock areas to ensure a stable flow of
ASR to the furnace. Similarly, Kosaka Smelting
and Refining Co., Ltd. has identified reductionof the collection and physical distribution costs
as one of the priority challenges to be addressed,

Table 3-3 Comparison between Two Approaches Toward More
Sophisticated ASR Processing
Gasification melting furnace

Nonferrous metal refining

Plant location-related
constraints

Few

Not few

Simultaneous handling of
ASR and other wastes

Possible

Not possible

Initial investments

Large

Small

Revenues and cost
reduction effects• Processing fees
• Electricity sales, etc.

• Processing fees
• Revenues from rare metal recovery operations• Cost reduction through the use of ASR as a
substitute fuel and internal use of collectedenergySources: Prepared by the Development Bank of Japan from publications, interviews, etc.

42

Development Bank of Japan Research Report/ No. 41

because it is situated in an inland area.
Two important considerations in evaluating the feasibility of a recycling business are
the amount of processing fee (a service businessrevenue) and the sustainability of the flow ofrevenues arising from processing-based production and sale of recycled materials (manufacturing business revenues). In the case of ASR,
processing fees have recently been stable ataround 14,000 to 24,000 yen per ton according
to data on actual fees charged by nonferrous
metal refining companies, although the amountvaries depending on composition. The fee ismainly determined based on the amount of the
final disposal fee, and will likely increaseslightly in the future, as 1) the disposal fee is
expected to continue rising gradually as a wholeand 2) if the automobile recycling fee under theenvisioned recycling framework is assumed to
be around 20,000 yen per vehicle as is currently
expected, then more money can be spent on
ASR processing in the future6, although there
will be processing capacity-related constraints.
However, as is clear from examples inother recycling areas such as the recycling of
construction by-products and container andpackaging materials, it is the second factor(sustainability of the flow of revenues arisingfrom processing-based production and sale ofrecycled materials) that largely determines thesustainability and profitability of a recycling
business. If we make a comparison between
gasification melting and nonferrous metal refining in terms of the second factor, it is clearthat the latter is more favorable because it enables processing-based production of various
recycled materials from ASR and its residue
and sale of such recycled materials, as well as
recovery and sale of rare metals. Therefore, development of the domestic infrastructure is expected to be led by nonferrous metal refining
businesses which are more sustainable andprofitable than gasification melting furnaces,with gasification melting furnaces deployed inareas that cannot be covered by nonferrous
metal refining businesses due to location-related constraints.7
2.4

Efforts Toward More Sophisticated
Dismantling

There are also moves to reduce the volume of
ASR generated by means of upstream improvements, that is, by making the dismantlingprocesses more sophisticated.
The West-Japan Auto Recycle Co., Ltd.
shown in Table 3-2 has been developing sophisticated end-of-life vehicle dismantlingprocesses to achieve a “shredder-free dismantling” system with thorough recovery of valuable components and materials followed bypressing the remainder into cubes to be sent toelectric furnaces and used as material for steel.
This system still has many challenges to be addressed including how to ensure an adequate
market for the recovered valuable components
and materials and technical problems such as
those relating to improving the quality of thesteel recovered through pressing. Nevertheless,this system paves the way toward ASR-freerecycling, and the sustainability and profitability of this kind of system will be improved asrecycling-oriented designs become more popular and as reuse component/material markets
develop.
There are also moves in some parts of Japan to enhance existing dismantling processes
to minimize the volume of ASR generated. One
example is the Ibaraki Automobile Recycling
Center Co., Ltd. shown in Table 3-2. The company, which was established by dealers in Ibaraki prefecture that are affiliated with automobile manufacturers, started operation in 1995
and is currently handling 24,000 to 25,000
end-of-life vehicles annually (capacity: 30,000
7

6

If the total weight of a vehicle is 1 ton and the share of
ASR as a percentage of the total weight is about 30%, thenabout 1 ton of ASR can be recovered from three vehicles.
If a fee of 20,000 yen is collected for each vehicle, thetotal amount of money that can be spent for three vehicles
is 60,000 yen. If 50% of this is spent on ASR processing,theoretically about 30,000 yen can be spent for 1 ton of
ASR.

However, this scenario is not without problem. The
global oversupply of copper and zinc in recent years has
led to recessions in the markets for these metals, forcing
some operators to close down. If this trend continues andthe number of nonferrous metal businesses decreases dramatically, one of the important comparative advantages ofnonferrous metal refining companies in recycling willdiminish because there will be insufficient capacity toabsorb the rare metals recovered.

Development Bank of Japan Research Report/ No. 41

43

end-of-life vehicles per year), which accountfor 16% of the number of vehicles becoming
end-of-life vehicles in the prefecture (total
number of automobiles: 2,200,000; number ofvehicles deregistered annually: 150,000). The
company has been able to maintain a high facility utilization factor because it has a constantflow of incoming end-of-life vehicles via its
founders (new automobile dealers) despite thefact that its sophisticated dismantling operations
are not advantageous in terms of cost. Because
the company dismantles valuable components
and materials thoroughly and sells them to outside consumers and users, the sale of usedcomponents (engines, hoods, doors, etc.) excluding rebuild components, used tires (thecompany has its own used tire shops) and usedmaterials accounts for about 70% of the total
revenue of the company, with the processing
fee representing only about 30%.
There are now moves in the automobile
dismantler industry toward establishing a relatively large dismantling business entity that engages in appropriate processing like Ibaraki
Automobile Recycling Center Co., Ltd. in every
prefecture. In fact, the company has received
many visitors from local governments that wish
to follow suit. Although there are many hurdles
to be cleared before such a facility is actuallyconstructed and put into operation, the spreadof such moves will accelerate the evolution toward more sophisticated dismantling. Therefore,
the registration and approval systems under theAutomobile Recycling Law should be designed
and implemented to facilitate these moves.
2.5

Recycling of Automobile Glasses as
Sheet Glasses

Another development that is likely to contributeto ongoing efforts to reduce the volume of ASR
generated and achieve more sophisticated dismantling is moves in the sheet glass industry torecycle automobile glasses as sheet glasses.
Asahi Glass Co., Ltd. and other sheet glass
manufacturers have recently been conducting
demonstration experiments on technologies torecycle side and windshield glasses as sheet
glasses, and the technical part of these demonstration experiments has reportedly already44

Development Bank of Japan Research Report/ No. 41

been completed. If commercialized, thesetechnologies will enhance the level of dismantling with the addition of a glass recovery process and reduce the volume of ASR generated,because glasses account for about 16% of thetotal volume of ASR.
However, there are still many challenges tobe addressed such as the establishment of an
appropriate collection system and how to ensure quality of the collected glasses. It will takesome time before glass processing is incorporated into the automobile recycling framework.
So far we have looked at two different approaches to end-of-life vehicle recycling, that is,an approach toward more sophisticated ASR
processing and another toward more sophisticated dismantling. However, these two approaches are not contradictory but will complement each other in the development of Japan’s end-of-life vehicle recycling. It is expected that automobile recycling businesses inJapan will develop based on the former approach in the near term, as the annual volumeof ASR generated will not decrease significantly, and as recycling-oriented designs spreadand used component and material markets develop, the share of the latter approach will increase significantly. The legal target recycling
rate of 95% by weight is a very high goal, andcan only be achieved if the two approaches
work complementarily to each other.
2.6

Recycling Efforts by Automobile
Manufacturers

It goes without saying that efforts by automobile manufacturers are also important to achieve
the target recycling rate of 95%. The environmental impacts of automobiles are highest during the consumption stage (especially when
they are being driven by drivers) in the lifecycleof automobile, and so the ongoing competition
among automobile manufacturers to improvefuel efficiency through lighter vehicles and hybrid vehicle technologies has contributed
greatly to reducing environmental impacts.
However, these efforts to improve fuel efficiency often conflict with the need to improveease of recycling and dismantling. For example,
the share of non-metal components used is in-creased by using resin for the fuel tank to reduce weight, and the number of components
with complex shapes may be increased bychanging to component structures to ensure that
newly introduced smaller and/or lighter components have the strength required to satisfy thesafety requirements. There are many areas
where improvements can only be made throughautomobile manufacturers’ efforts, including
achieving an optimum balance between theconflicting demands for better fuel efficiency
and ease of recycling and/or dismantling, andthe selection of materials to improve ease ofrecycling and/or dismantling. Table 3-4 showssome of the ongoing efforts by automobile
manufacturers.

For some components, measures are alreadybeing taken to improve recycling and to substitute hazardous substances with non-hazardous
ones. In addition, systems are being developed tofeed back information to design departments toimprove ease of recycling and dismantling.
Automobile manufacturers are actively seeking
to develop systems to handle used components in
preparation for the expected dramatic increase in
the number of such components after the Automobile Recycling Law enters into force. Afterthe new framework is introduced, these efforts
will surely intensify and help improve the automobile recycling rate.

Table 3-4 Recent Automobile Recycling Efforts by Major Automobile Manufacturers
Activity
Recycling

Development of feedback systems forrecycling-oriented
designs
Development of arecyclability evaluation system
Promotion of recycling

Description

Company• Establishment of an “Automobile Recycling Research Institute” to internalize systems to feed back information relating
to ease of recycling and/or dismantling.
• Contracting of the development of an information feedback
system to a subsidiary company• Development of a recyclability pre-evaluation system for new
automobiles

Toyota Motor Corporation
Nissan Motor Co.,Ltd.
Several automobile
manufacturers• Promotion of the use of single-material components and substitution of components with ones that are easier to dismantle
and/or recycle (e.g. substitution of engineering plastics withPP)
• Engaged in the recycling of side and windshield glasses ofautomobiles into glass wool in partnership with dismantlers.
Also entered the field of automobile recycling singly.
• Established a technology to achieve 100% recycling of bumpers (made of PP) recovered from end-of-life vehicles for new
automobiles.

Several automobile
manufacturers• Has demonstrated techniques to collect and recycle valuable
metals through sorted collection of ASR with fine categorization.

Toyota Motor Corporation

Fuji Heavy Industries,
Ltd.
Honda Motor Co.,
Ltd.

Used components

Reusing and rebuilding of dismantled
components• Strengthening of the business of selling components collected
through partnerships with dismantlers using sales networks.
The business of selling collected components after inspection
and repair as rebuilt components will also be strengthened.

Several finishedautomobile manufacturers

Hazardous substance countermeasures

Substitution withwater-based paints• Use of water-based paints not only for the base and intermediate paint layers but also for the colored surface paint layer.
Reduction in the quantity of toluene and xylene used.

Elimination of the useof halogens• Development of a halogen-free wiring harness through substitution of PVC, which is widely used for coating, with PP, etc.
In addition, efforts are being made to reduce the quantity of
halogens used by reducing the concentration of chlorine.

Nissan Motor Co.,
Ltd. (Kyushu Plant)
and other automobile
manufacturers
Yazaki Corporation

Elimination of the useof lead• The industry-wide goal of reducing the quantity of lead used
to 50% or less from the 1996 figure had been set and wasachieved mainly for vehicles put on the market in fiscal 2000.

Several finishedautomobile manufacturers• Substitution of lead used as the curing agent for the rubber
hose of the hydraulic power steering system with magnesium

Koyo Seiko Co., Ltd.,
Meiji Rubber &Chemical Co., Ltd.

Sources: Prepared by the Development Bank of Japan from published environmental reports and press articles.

Development Bank of Japan Research Report/ No. 41

45

3. Afterword
In this report, we have compared domestic andoverseas regulatory trends in the recycling of
end-of-life vehicles, which constitute a special
category of PCW, and discussed the implications of these trends on future recycling businesses.
Because automobiles inherently provide
relatively high incentives for recovering resources compared with other products, Japan’s
new automobile recycling framework will basically be a modification of the existing one, as
in European countries. There will also be a parallel between the future path of the Japanese
automobile recycling industry and those ofEuropean countries in the sense that once asystem is established to channel all or mostend-of-life vehicles to a sophisticated recycling
flow through the development of the framework,

46

Development Bank of Japan Research Report/ No. 41

the establishment of an effective ASR recycling
technology will become a central challenge because of the difficulty of ASR processing although the volume of ASR generated will belimited.
Two important developments in the ongoing evolution of Japan’s automobile recycling
industry are 1) intensification of efforts by
Japanese companies to utilize existingknow-how and expertise in recycling infrastructure development such as those evident in
the nonferrous metal refining industry and 2)
advancements in some new technologies thathave put Japanese companies ahead of othercountries in terms of commercialization such as
those seen in the utilization of gasification
melting technologies. The implementation andelaboration of the new automobile recycling
framework in the coming years will surely leadto further technological innovation.

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47

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List of Back Numbers (Including JDB Research Report)
No. 41 Prospects and Challenges for End-of-Life Vehicle Recycling (this issue)
No. 40 Survey on Planned Capital Spending for Fiscal Years 2002 and 2003 (Conducted in February2003), May 2003
No. 39 China’s Economic Development and the Role of Foreign-Funded Enterprises, May 2003
No. 38 Decline in Productivity in Japan and Disparities Between Firms in the 1990s: An Empirical Approach Based on Data Envelopment Analysis, March 2003
No. 37 Trends in Socially Responsible Investment: Corporate Social Responsibility in a New Phase,
March 2003
No. 36 Recent Trends in the Japanese Economy: A Medium-term Scenario for the Sustainability of theJapanese Economy, February 2003
No. 35 Concerns for the Future and Generational Consumption Behavior, February 2003
No. 34 Prospects and Challenges Surrounding Japan’s Electrical Equipment Industry: General Electrical
Equipment Manufacturers’ Restructuring of Operations and Future Prospects, November 2002
No. 33 Survey on Planned Capital Spending for Fiscal Years 2001, 2002 and 2003, November 2002
No. 32 Behavior Trends of Japanese Banks toward the Corporate Sector and Their Impact on the Economy, October 2002
No. 31 Microstructure of Investment and Employment Dynamics: Stylized Facts of Factor Adjustment
Based on Listed Company Data, October 2002
No. 30 Recent Trends in the Japanese Economy: Globalization and the Japanese Economy, August 2002
No. 29 Corporate Financing Trends in Recent Years: Fund Shortages and Repayment Burden, August
2002
No. 28 Urban Renewal and Resource Recycling: For the Creation of a Resource Recycling Society, July
2002
No. 27 Labor’s Share and the Adjustment of Wages and Employment, June 2002
No. 26 Survey on Planned Capital Spending for Fiscal Years 2001 and 2002, May 2002
No. 25 Environmental Information Policy and Utilization of Information Technology: Toward a Shift inEnvironmental Policy Paradigm, March 2002
No. 24 The Changing Structure of Trade in Japan and Its Impact: With the Focus on Trade in Information Technology (IT) Goods, March 2002
No. 23 Microstructure of Persistent ROA Decline in the Japanese Corporate Sector: Inter-company
Disparties and Investment Strategies, March 2002
No. 22 Recent Trends in the Japanese Economy: The Japanese Economy under Deflation and Prospects
of Evolution, February 2002
No. 21 Survey on Planned Capital Spending for Fiscal Years 2000, 2001 and 2002, December 2001
No. 20 Current Situation and Challenges for Cable Television in the Broadband Era, October 2001
No. 19 Recent Trends in the Japanese Economy: The Japanese Economy under Deflation, August 2001
No. 18 Introduction of a Home Appliance Recycling System: Effects & Prospects: Progress towards
Utilisation of Recycling Infrastructure, June 2001
No. 17 Survey on Planned Capital Spending for Fiscal Years 2000 and 2001, June 2001
No. 16 Revitalization of Middle-aged and Elderly Workers in Japan’s Labor Markets: Requiring the
Expansion of the Vocational Training Functions, March 2001
No. 15 Risk-Averting Portfolio Trends of Japanese Households, March 2001

No. 14 Consumption Demand Trends and the Structure of Supply: Focus on Retail Industry Supply Behavior, March 2001
No. 13 Recent Trends in the Japanese Economy: Weakness of Current Economic Recovery and Its
Background, March 2001
No. 12 Empirical Reassessment of Japanese Corporate Investment Behavior: Features and Changes
since the 1980s, based on Micro-level Panel Data, March 2001
No. 11 Survey on Planned Capital Spending for Fiscal Years 1999, 2000 and 2001, October 2000
No. 10 Job Creation and Job Destruction in Japan, 1978-1998: An Empirical Analysis Based on Enterprise Data, September 2000
No. 9

Recent Trends in the Japanese Economy: Information Technology and the Economy, September
2000

No. 8

Trend of International Reorganization Affecting the Japanese Automobile and Auto Parts Industries, June 2000

No. 7

Survey on Planned Capital Spending for Fiscal Years 1999 and 2000, June 2000

No. 6

Current Status and Future Perspective of the Japanese Remediation Industry: Technology andMarket for Underground Remediation, May 2000

No. 5

Recent Trends in the Japanese Economy: The 1990s in Retrospect, March 2000

No. 4

Destabilized Consumption and the Post-bubble Consumer Environment, February 2000

No. 3

The Slump in Plant and Equipment Investment in the 1990s: Focusing on Lowered Expectations,the Debt Burden and Other Structural Factors, January 2000

No. 2

Survey on Planned Capital Spending for Fiscal Years 1998, 1999 and 2000, November 1999

No. 1

Corporate Strategies in Japan’s Semiconductor Industry: Implications of Development in Other
Asian Countries, November 1999

JDB Research Report
No. 96 Recent Trends in the Japanese Economy: Focused on Fixed Investment and Capital Stock, August 1999
No. 95 Efforts to Protect the Natural Environment in the United States and Germany: Environmental
Mitigation and Biotope Conservation, July 1999
No. 94 Survey on Planned Capital Spending for Fiscal Years 1998 and 1999, June 1999
No. 93 Towards the realization of ‘environmental partnership’: A survey of Japan’s environmental NPO
sector through comparison with Germany, June 1999
No. 92 The Impact of Demographic Changes on Consumption and Savings, March 1999
No. 91 Recent Research and Development Trends in Japanese Enterprises: Technology Fusion, March
1999
No. 90 Recent Trends in the Japanese Economy: Prolonged Balance Sheet Adjustment, January 1999
No. 89 Impact of Asset Price Fluctuations on Household and Corporate Behavior: A Comparison between Japan and the U.S., December 1998
No. 88 Survey on Planned Capital Spending for Fiscal Years 1997, 1998, and 1999, December 1998
No. 87 Foreign Exchange Rate Fluctuations and Changes in the Input-Output Structure, November 1998
No. 86 Structural Changes in Unemployment of Japan: An Approach from Labor Flow, November 1998
No. 85 Recent Trends in the Japanese Economy: Characteristics of the Current Recession, August 1998

No. 84 R&D Stock and Trade Structure in Japan, August 1998
No. 83 Survey on Planned Capital Spending for Fiscal Years 1997 and 1998, August 1998
No. 82 The Significance, Potential, and Problems of DNA Analysis Research: Establishing Public Acceptance is Essential, May 1998
No. 81 The Japan Development Bank Reports on Capital Spending: Survey for Fiscal Years 1996, 1997
and 1998 Conducted in August 1997, March 1998
No. 80 Recent Trends in the Japanese Economy: Growth Base of the Japanese Economy, January 1998
No. 79 Information Appliances: The Strength of Japanese Companies and Tasks for the Future, January
1998
No. 78 Challenges and Outlook for the Japanese Machinery Industries: Impact of ISO14000 Series andEnvironmental Cost, January 1998
No. 77 Current Conditions and Issues of Computerization in the Health Care Industry: For the Construction of a Health Care Information Network, January 1998
No. 76 Household Consumption and Saving in Japan, December 1997
No. 75 The Direction of Japanese Distribution System Reforms: Strengthening the Infrastructure to
Support Diverse Consumer Choices, November 1997
No. 74 Foreign Direct Investments by Japanese Manufacturing Industries and Their Effects on International Trade, October 1997
No. 73 The Impact of the Changing Trade Structure on the Japanese Economy: With Special Focus on
the Effects on Productivity and Employment, October 1997
No. 72 An Analysis of Foreign Direct Investment and Foreign Affiliates in Japan, August 1997
No. 71 Recent Trends in the Japanese Economy: Stock Replacement and New Demand as Aspects of
Economic Recovery, August 1997
No. 70 Corporate Fundraising: An International Comparison, June 1997
No. 69 The Japan Development Bank Reports on Capital Spending: Survey for Fiscal Years 1996 and1997 Conducted in February 1997, May 1997
No. 68 The Japan Development Bank Reports on Capital Spending: Survey for Fiscal Years 1996 and1997 Conducted in August 1996, August 1997
No. 67 An International Comparison of Corporate Investment Behavior: Empirical Analysis Using Firm
Data from Japan, France and the US, April 1997
No. 66 Housing in the National Capital: Analysis of the Market for Housing using Micro Data, March
1997
No. 65 The Environment for Locating Business Operations in Major East Asian Cities, January 1997
No. 64 Direction of Reconstruction of Business Strategy in the Chemical Industry, January 1997
No. 63 Reflection on Discussions Concerning Regulation of the Electric Power Industry: Deregulationof the Electric Power Industry in Japan and Implication of Experiences in the United States,
December 1996
No. 62 Current Status and Future Perspective of the Japanese Semiconductor Industry, November 1996
No. 61 A Breakthrough for the Japanese Software Industry?: Responsiveness to Users’ Needs is the key,
October 1996
No. 60 Recent Trends in the Japanese Economy Focusing on the Characteristics and Sustainability of
the Current Economic Recovery, September 1996
No. 59 Analysis of the Primary Causes and Economic Effects of Information: Related investment in the
United States and Trends in Japan, August 1996

No. 58 Selected Summaries of Research Reports: Published in FY1995, June 1996
No. 57 The Japan Development Bank Reports on Capital Spending: Survey for Fiscal Years 1995 and1996 Conducted in February 1996, May 1996
No. 56 Recent Trends in the Japanese Economy, May 1996
No. 55 Issues Concerning the Competitiveness of the Japanese Steel Industry, February 1996
No. 54 Changes in the Financial Environment and the Real Economy, January 1996
No. 53 The Japan Development Bank Reports on Capital Spending: Survey for Fiscal Years 1994, 1995
and 1996 Conducted in August 1995, October 1995
No. 52 Current Economic Trends: Focusing on the Appreciation of the Yen and its Effects, October
1995
No. 51 Problems Concerning the International Competitiveness of the Petrochemical Industry, October
1995
No. 50 An Economic Approach to International Competitiveness, October 1995
No. 49 Selected Summaries of Research Reports Published in FY1994, July 1995
No. 48 Strategies for Improving the Efficiency of the Japanese Physical Distribution System: Part 2,
July 1995
No. 47 Issues on International Competitive Strength of the Auto Industry, June 1995
No. 46 Problems Concerning the International Competitiveness of the Electronics and Electric Machinery Industry, June 1995
No. 45 The Japan Development Bank Reports on Capital Spending: Survey for Fiscal Years 1994 and1995 Conducted in March 1995, June 1995
No. 44 Strategies for Improving the Efficiency of the Japanese Physical Distribution System, March
1995
No. 43 Capital Spending Recovery Scenario Cycle and Structure, August 1994
No. 42 Progress of International Joint Development between Industrialized Countries on the Private
Level, May 1994
No. 41 The Japan Development Bank Reports on Capital Spending: Survey for Fiscal Years 1993, 1994
and 1995 Conducted in August 1994 , November 1994
No. 40 Selected Summaries of Research Reports Published in FY1993, June 1994
No. 39 Recent Trends in Japan’s Foreign Accounts, April 1994
No. 38 The Japan Development Bank Reports on Capital Spending: Survey for Fiscal Years 1993 and1994 Conducted in March 1994, April 1994
No. 37 Economic Zones and East Asia Prospect for Economic Activity Oriented Market Integration,
December 1993
No. 36 Japanese Corporate Responses to Global Environmental Issues, December 1993
No. 35 The Japan Development Bank Reports on Capital Spending: Survey for Fiscal Years 1992, 1993
and 1994 Conducted in August 1993, September 1993
No. 34 Structure of Profit to Capital in the Manufacturing Industry, September 1993
No. 33 Comparison of the Japanese and The U.S. Labor Markets, October 1992
No. 32 The Relative Competitiveness of U.S., German, and Japanese Manufacturing, March 1993
No. 31 The Japan Development Bank Reports on Capital Spending: Survey for Fiscal Years 1992 and1993 Conducted in March 1993, April 1993

No. 30 The Japan Development Bank Reports on Capital Spending: Survey for Fiscal Years 1991, 1992
and 1993 Conducted in August 1992, December 1992
No. 29 Flow of Funds in the 80s and Future Corporate Finance in Japan, November 1992
No. 28 The Japan Development Bank Reports on Capital Spending: Survey for Fiscal Years 1991 and1992 Conducted in February 1992, April 1992
No. 27 An Analysis of Foreign Direct Investment in Japan, March 1992
No. 26 Projection of Japan's Trade Surplus in 1995: Analysis of Japan's Trade Structure in the 80s,
February 1992
No. 25 Intra-Industry Trade and Dynamic Development of The World Economy, November 1991
No. 24 The Japan Development Bank Reports on Capital Spending: Survey for Fiscal Years 1990, 1991
and 1992 Conducted in August 1991, September 1991
No. 23 The Japan Development Bank Reports on Capital Spending: Survey for Fiscal Years 1990 and1991 Conducted in February 1991, March 1991
No. 22 Trends of the Petrochemical Industry and its Marketplace in East Asia, March 1991
No. 21 The Japan Development Bank Reports on Capital Spending: Survey for Fiscal Years 1989, 1990
and 1991 Conducted in August 1990, September 1990
No. 20 Deepening Economic Linkages in The Pacific Basin Region: Trade, Foreign Direct Investment
and Technology, September 1990
No. 19 The Japan Development Bank Reports on Capital Spending: Survey for Fiscal Years 1989 and1990 Conducted in February 1990, March 1990
No. 18 Petrochemicals In Japan, The US, and Korea an Assessment of Economic Efficiency, February
1990
No. 17 The Japan Development Bank Reports on Capital Spending: Survey for Fiscal Years 1988, 1989
and 1990 Conducted in August 1989, October 1989
No. 16 Impact of the EC Unification on Japan’s Automobile and Electronics Industries, August 1989
No. 15 Industrial and Trade Structures and the International Competitiveness of Asia’s Newly
Industrializing Economies, August 1989
No. 14 The Japan Development Bank Reports on Capital Investment Spending: Survey for Fiscal Years
1988 and 1989 Conducted in February 1989, March 1989
No. 13 The Japan Development Bank Reports on Capital Spending: Survey for Fiscal Years 1987, 1988
and 1989 Conducted in August 1988, September 1988
No. 12 Growing Foreign Investors’ Activities and the Future of Internationalization, September 1988
No. 11 Futures Tasks and Prospects for the Japanese Machine-Tool Industry, July 1988
No. 10 International Division of Labor in the Machine Industries Among Japan, Asia’s NICs and
ASEAN Countries, June 1988
No. 9

Trends of the Petrochemical Industry and its Marketplace in East Asia around Japan, May 1988

No. 8

The International Competitiveness of Japan and U.S. in High Technology Industries, April 1988

No. 7

The Japan Development Bank Reports on Private Fixed Investment in Japan, March 1988

No. 6

Economic Projections of the Japan’s Economy to the Year 2000, February 1988

No. 5

The Japan Development Bank Reports on Private Fixed Investment in Japan, September 1987

No. 4

Current Trends in the Japanese Auto Parts Industry in Overseas Production, July 1987

No. 3

Current Moves for Foreign Direct Investment into Japan, May 1987

No. 2

Overseas Direct Investments by Japanese Corporations, May 1987

No. 1

Current U.S. Consumption Trends, May 1987