Groupe GPA targets aluminium recovery via closed-loop automotive recycling

French vehicle recycler Groupe GPA is broadening the scope of its automotive recycling strategy. Moving beyond parts reuse, it aims to recover aluminium, rare earth elements or critical minerals, copper, plastics, glass and batteries from end-of-life vehicles and return them to vehicle manufacturing supply chains.

The company has created a dedicated five-person R&D team to formulate processes for turning materials recovered during vehicle dismantling into secondary raw materials for the automotive industry.

Led by mechanical engineer Marc Jolivet, the team is working around three priorities: extracting greater value from materials amid rising pressure on raw material supplies; helping automakers establish closed-loop recycling systems; and developing safe treatment methods, particularly for electric vehicles. 

GPA Johan Renaud refers to end-of-life vehicles collected through the company’s insurance partners as an “urban mine”, underlining the potential role of automotive recycling in decarbonisation, resource security and the development of traceable material supply chains.

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Aluminium moves closest to closed-loop production

Among the projects under development, aluminium recovery is one of the most advanced.

GPA has partnered with aluminium specialist SOREMO and currently supplies the company with 20 to 30 tonnes of engine blocks every month from dismantled end-of-life vehicles. SOREMO processes the engines to recover high-quality aluminium, which is then melted into ingots, to be reused in new vehicle manufacturing.

Based on an annual collection volume of 50,000 vehicles, GPA estimates that the programme could eventually produce around 100 tonnes of suitable aluminium material per month.

The potential volume could increase further as operations expand, including at GPA’s Pont-Sainte-Maxence facility in northern France. The company estimates that aluminium recovery could reach approximately 140 tonnes per month by 2029.

GPA also points to the carbon-saving potential of recycled aluminium as automakers look to reduce the environmental footprint associated with vehicle production.

Expanding recovery beyond aluminium

The R&D programme extends across several other materials used extensively in vehicles.

Rare earth recovery is also part of the programme. Initial tests were conducted in 2025, with further research and discussions with potential partners planned.

GPA is examining polypropylene, polyamide and polyurethane, along with copper and automotive glass.

For GPA, the wider objective is to make dismantled vehicles a source of materials that can move back into automotive production rather than ending their journey after parts recovery.

The R&D push indicates a broader evolution in GPA’s recycling model. Alongside supplying reusable components, the company is working towards recovering strategically important materials that could eventually return directly to vehicle manufacturing.

The approach places material recovery, rather than dismantling alone, at the centre of Groupe GPA’s next stage of automotive recycling, with aluminium recovery and recycling pushing sustainability goals a step further.