Vanessa Montagne, General Director of Recycler Mon Véhicule, sheds light on the growing crisis of end-of-life vehicles (ELVs) in France’s overseas territories. Faced with isolation, limited infrastructure, and mounting environmental risks, she calls for coordinated action to end widespread vehicle abandonment and build a resilient, circular economic model.
In France’s overseas territories, managing end-of-life vehicles (ELVs) is a major challenge. Island isolation, logistical constraints, a lack of ELV centers, the cost of vehicle recovery, and vulnerability to natural disasters all significantly complicate the situation. More than 10% of vehicles are abandoned on public roads, sometimes in sensitive areas, and up to 50% in some territories. This phenomenon is not just an eyesore; it is an environmental, health, and economic scourge. Each abandoned vehicle pollutes the soil and water for a long time, impacts the daily lives of residents, and hinders the development of an efficient circular economy. With the rise of electric mobility and the complex issue of end-of-life battery disposal, the urgency of the situation is even greater. Although local elected officials and associations are largely mobilized, stakeholders in the sector need support in the face of these structural challenges.
A well-identified vicious cycle
In 2024, Recycler Mon Véhicule recorded an abandonment rate exceeding 10% across all French overseas departments and territories (DROM-COM), reaching up to 50% in some areas. These vehicles are often partially dismantled by their owners or by third parties before being left behind. The difficulty in identifying the owners further complicates the process.
The obstacles are well-known: a lack of infrastructure, a weak network of authorized end-of-life vehicle (ELV) centers, and specific logistical constraints. Since 2011, regulations have mandated free vehicle collection by ELV centers. In mainland France, this free service is fully implemented. However, in the overseas territories, local difficulties, isolation, transportation costs, and the precarious profitability of ELV centers, have long led to a fee being charged for collection, creating a major deterrent for owners. Under these conditions, many hesitate to use the legal channels and turn to informal networks. The development of free home collection, already practiced in metropolitan France, could be a powerful lever to encourage and limit abandonment.
The result: illegal practices are taking hold. Unlicensed individuals and mechanics are removing usable parts and abandoning the car bodies without depolluting them. These activities, prohibited by law, fuel a parallel economy and deprive authorized end-of-life vehicle (ELV) centers of complete vehicles. Too often, the ELVs that reach them are already stripped, significantly reducing their reuse potential and limiting the availability of reliable parts. This vicious cycle hinders the development of a local circular economy, which is nevertheless essential.
Ten years of awareness and initiatives
For nearly ten years, successive reports and programs have attempted to raise awareness and provide solutions by evolving the legal framework and the resources implemented.
2015: A report commissioned from Serge Letchimy highlights the scale of the problem and proposes a series of actions: financial incentives, regulatory adjustments, and measures to combat illegal scrapping.
2018: A framework agreement between 22 car manufacturers aims to reduce the stockpiles of abandoned end-of-life vehicles (ELVs) in France’s overseas territories.
2020: The AGEC law strengthens the framework, notably by allowing the removal of ELVs from private land and the handling of uninsured vehicles after natural disasters.
2024: A new milestone is reached with the creation of the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) scheme for ELVs and the establishment of the eco-organization Recycler Mon Véhicule, which now structures a sustainable collective response, while working in coordination with producers organized for their EPR schemes through individual systems.
Recycler Mon Véhicule: A Collective Approach
From its inception, Recycler Mon Véhicule has chosen to work in close partnership with local authorities and government services in the French overseas territories. Its action plan is structured around three key areas:
Measure and manage: annual monitoring of the abandonment rate in each territory allows for adjustments to local realities.
Incentivize: a return bonus is paid to individuals to encourage the surrender of complete vehicles to approved centers, between €50 and €100 for four-wheeled vehicles, and between €18.50 and €37 for two- and three-wheeled vehicles and quadricycles.
Mobilize: awareness campaigns and collection operations are conducted with local authorities. These initiatives help reduce the stockpile of abandoned end-of-life vehicles (ELVs) while supporting the activities of partner ELV centers.
Since 2025, the program has been extended to uninsured vehicles, particularly those damaged by cyclones or floods.
Anticipating the Challenge of Electrified Vehicle Batteries
Beyond internal combustion engine end-of-life vehicles (ELVs), the electrification of the vehicle fleet opens a new frontier. Batteries, whether from hybrid or 100% electric vehicles, contain strategic metals that are valuable for the European circular economy. However, they also represent a risk when not processed through secure channels: fires, pollution, and dangers for informal operators.
In the French overseas territories, where abuses related to illegal dismantling are already widespread, the increasing arrival of electrified vehicles makes the consolidation of a legal sector, equipped with appropriate skills and infrastructure, even more urgent. Recycler Mon Véhicule is preparing for this challenge by supporting its partner ELV centers and ensuring that batteries follow safe and traceable channels.
A Question of Environmental Justice and Sovereignty
The success of this transformation goes beyond mere technical considerations. It raises a question of environmental justice: the overseas territories must not be condemned to bear an additional burden of pollution and health risks. It also raises a question of sovereignty: abandoning batteries and the metals they contain to parallel industries would be a double loss, ecological and economic. Recycler Mon Véhicule is paving the way. But this way requires the mobilization of everyone: local authorities, manufacturers, end-of-life vehicle centers, insurers, repairers, and citizens. Together, they can transform a long-standing problem into a lever for innovation, resilience, and exemplary practices.
Because behind every abandoned vehicle, there is certainly a source of pollution, but also the opportunity to write a different story: that of territories that choose to rely on the circular economy to preserve their environment, protect their inhabitants, and enhance their resources.
