Enhancing Circularity of Strategic Value Chains Through Life Cycle Thinking—The Example of JRC Scientific Support to the Forthcoming Vehicles EU Regulation
摘要
Electric mobility (e-mobility) is a key driver for the green transition and climate neutrality. Nonetheless, value chain of e-drive motors, a key component of e-vehicles, still presents significant circularity failures. Circular management of products should go beyond end-of-life management embracing the whole life-cycle to be effective. This is the approach of recent EU policies for e-mobility (e.g. the vehicles regulation proposal or the batteries regulation) as well as of recent JRC science-for-policy supports on e-mobility circularity. The paper presents and discusses two policy measures for enhancing e-drive motors circularity in applying a life cycle thinking approach, namely: (i) labelling and information folder and (ii) recycled content of permanent magnets. This contribution aims at showing how moving from a punctual approach to life-cycle approach along the value chain effectively enables circularity, of both materials and information, with benefits as for waste management operators as for manufacturers.