What do we see?
As can be seen in the graph below, between 2012 and 2020, the average age of cars increased from just over 14 years to almost 17 years.
What’s the aim?
The goal of a circular economy is to use materials as long as possible. For cars, however, we also need to take into account the potentially negative trade-off of emissions during the use phase. In other words, using cars longer before returning them to official demolition sites can only indicate a more circular use of cars if this prolonged use doesn’t negatively impact the use-phase emissions. We must also take into account the extent to which more polluting vehicles are removed from the market. For example, in the coming years diesel and petrol cars could reach EOL sooner due to bans and regulations on these vehicles in Belgian legislation. However, we must consider the benefits of such actions from a lifecycle perspective and take into account the pollution potential of the vehicles in combination with their lifetime. In addition, we should analyse the increase in the number of years a car is used in relation to the car use intensity. This could be indicated by the mileage at end of life.
What does this indicator measure?
The indicator measures the average age of cars at demolition. These numbers are available in the yearly reports of Febelauto, the EPR organisation for Belgium. The data for these reports is gathered from official demolition centres in Belgium and includes numbers for both cars and vans. The data refers to the location where the vehicles were received and is independent from where the car was used.
