24th November 2025
EGARA meeting and statements
EGARA had her Fall meeting in Brussels last 13th November. Jaco Huisman from the EC ELV team unfortunately had to decline as he’s occupied with the Trilogues. Despite Jaco’s absence, the meeting had a very full agenda and some other guests with very interesting speeches. The formal part of the meeting went fast, meaning we are up to date as an association and ready for 2026. It also gave some extra time for discussions in the topics that are very actual today.
First speaker was Willy Tomboy, an independent expert on batteries and PROs who gave a lot of information about rescue sheets and emergency info. Where IDIS lacks uniformity, these rescue sheets are all the same and point out a lot of important info of whereabouts of critical parts like high voltage cables, li-ion batteries (including auxiliary batteries) fuel lines, etc. His other topic was about EPR (extended producers responsibility) and PROs (producer responsibility organisations). The current ELV directive and the proposed regulation describe EPR and this can be both taken care of by individual OEMs and collective PROs. The European PROs join a voluntary platform in which they can discuss and share topics and points of view and keep each other up to date. One of the things this group advocates is financial responsibilities should be much better clarified in the new Proposal for an ELV Regulation. The cartel case made this very clear. This group also pleas for proper treatment of ELVs at ATFs only and protection against illegals, which is a great concern for EGARA as well.
Next speaker was Ali Abdellatif from Denso. Denso has it’s own view on material dismantling before shredding an ELV. They have a line (or battery) of robotic arms that recognize a vehicle , take it apart in so called modules and take these apart in various materials. AI learns these robots to cut and pick out materials more and more efficiently. For now it’s very expensive technology and not yet very fast, but in the (near) future, it may become more affordable and much faster. They think now of offering this technique as a service to ATFs regionally or maybe to install lines at big ATFs. It seems this pre-shredding technique results in more, purer and cleaner materials than post shredding technique.
Last speaker was George Christofilopoulos, EGARA member from Greece about storage of Li-ion batteries. George managed to be the first certified ATF in Greece (probably in Europe) that can officially store used traction batteries. George customized sea containers and issued them with pressure relief valves, sprinkler installations and sensors. What is unique is that he managed to write software to process the readings of the sensors into usable information and warning to prevent batteries from catching fire and to be able to submerge them preventively. Another great characteristic of this feature is it’s not free, but it is not crazy expensive like some ready for use solutions that already exist. This way his installation is both effective, relatively easy to install and affordable.
Other topics were of course the VR (vehicle regulation) in general, the BR (battery regulation) , the cartel, EPR, trilogues, parts sales and some details that make the difference to be able to run a circular company. To stress these important points, it was decided that EGARA would make statements in which these items and the ATFs interests are described and to place them online. These statements can be used nationally, but they can also be used in cooperation with other stakeholders, to inform EC and MEPs and anyone else that is interested or needs to be informed. Statements about PROs, Parts sales, Illegals, Cartel, compensation, ELV storage duration, and some technical details can be found on the EGARA website: www.egara.eu .
Despite the extended agenda, the interesting presentations and the vivid discussions, all topics were treated within the planned time and at the end of the day the chairman thanked all for their contributions and wished all a safe trip home. EGARA’s Spring meeting is planned on the 4th of June in Denmark.
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