Pollini Group: From Family Dismantler to Industrial Recycler

Pollini Group’s growth shows how vehicle recyclers can move from dismantling to strategic material recovery. Simone Pollini says digitalisation, compliance, acquisitions and traceability have helped build an industrial model capable of supplying parts, recovering materials and working more closely with OEMs as European circularity rules reshape the sector.

Simone Pollini, CEO of Pollini Group, discusses industrial vehicle recycling and OEM collaboration. — Simone Pollini, CEO of Pollini Group

Simone Pollini, CEO of Pollini Group, discusses the company’s transformation from a small family-run dismantler into one of Italy’s leading industrial vehicle recycling businesses, the growing importance of digitalisation and traceability, and why closer collaboration between recyclers and vehicle manufacturers will help shape the sector’s future.

Three Decisions Behind Pollini Group’s Industrial Transformation

Pollini Group was founded in 1986 as a small family business with five employees. Today it employs 350 people, processes 30,000 end-of-life vehicles per year, sells 1,200 spare parts per day, and has reached a turnover of €45 million. This journey was made possible by three fundamental decisions.

The first was digitalization. We chose to digitize all company procedures and processes, not as a one-off initiative, but as an ongoing journey. This allowed us to analyze in real time what happens within the company, obtain concrete feedback on activities carried out, perform quantitative and qualitative analysis, and manage internal processes in a structured way. We developed a proprietary IT system to track end-of-life vehicles through every stage of the process.

The second lever was regulatory compliance. The European directive of 2003, transposed into Italian law in 2004, profoundly changed the sector. Being among the first to correctly interpret the obligations of the new regulations allowed us to become a recognized player, achieving significant results in terms of recycling, recovery, and reuse.

The third was our acquisitions strategy. We pursued acquisitions of other facilities not so much to gain know-how, but to access new markets and new geographic areas. Our working model and service quality were well received in various contexts, enabling a widespread expansion across the national territory.

Digitalisation Driving Smarter Recycling

Technology is at the heart of everything we do. Digitalization extends across all business processes, from vehicle intake to parts management and materials traceability, and has been developed continuously over time, adopting new technologies as they became available. It was not a one-off effort, but a journey built step by step, which today gives us full visibility over every operational phase.

Improved recycling performance is the direct result of this approach: collecting and analyzing data on everything that enters and exits the facility allows us to identify inefficiencies and opportunities in real time. Alongside this, we conduct constant hands-on experimentation with materials from end-of-life vehicles. Studying how output materials behave, their recovery potential, and how they can be valorized, allows us to continuously improve process effectiveness and uncover optimization opportunities that would otherwise remain hidden.

Building a Stronger National Recycling Network

A network of this kind must address the needs of all players in the supply chain, and each has different expectations.

For dismantlers, the main value lies in sharing technology, expertise, and operational practices to build a coordinated supply chain capable of covering the entire national territory. Italy is a geographically complex country, with islands, inland areas, and hard-to-serve zones, and only a structured network can guarantee a truly widespread presence.

For vehicle manufacturers, the network provides a professional counterpart with whom to engage in a structured dialogue. Having The Future is NEUTRAL within the group is already a concrete advantage: it allows us to align on OEM expectations, develop recycled materials with the properties required for use in new vehicles, and share measurable results.

For regulators, an organized network facilitates institutional dialogue, offering greater assurance of safety, reliability, and transparency. Engaging with a structured group is far more effective than dealing with thousands of separate small operators.

For vehicle owners, a qualified network provides a concrete guarantee of environmental responsibility, proper end-of-life management, and reliability when it comes to used spare parts.

From Scrap Handler to Strategic OEM Partner

I understand the caution of many independent operators. But we need to look at the situation for what it is: the new European regulation will make the relationship between dismantlers and manufacturers closer and, in a sense, almost unavoidable. Manufacturers will need to reincorporate a growing share of end-of-life materials into new vehicles, and to do so, they will need someone who can manage, trace, and supply those materials reliably.

This transforms dismantlers from simple scrap handlers into strategic partners in the production supply chain. Collaboration with OEMs is therefore not a concession: it is a position of strength, entirely new compared to the current one.

The real risk lies in the alternative: some manufacturers are already evaluating or initiating their own dismantling operations. If independent dismantlers do not organize themselves and make themselves attractive for collaboration, they risk being bypassed. A structured collaboration is far more functional for both parties than parallel, separate initiatives, and represents the best guarantee of long-term continuity for authorized dismantling centers.

Recycled Materials Shift the Balance of Power

As circularity becomes a regulatory and commercial priority, recycled materials from ELVs, including steel, aluminium and other valuable resources, are likely to become more strategically important to vehicle manufacturers. How could this change the relationship and balance of power between recyclers and carmakers?

The growing strategic importance of recycled materials could shift the balance of power between vehicle recyclers and manufacturers, although there are forces pushing in different directions.

On one hand, the growing regulatory and commercial importance of recyclability strengthens the role of dismantlers: those who control the provenance of materials, who know which vehicle a piece of aluminum came from, its history and quality, will have greater bargaining power vis-à-vis manufacturers. Recycled materials will become increasingly necessary and sought after, giving recyclers a negotiating leverage they do not currently have.

On the other hand, we must be realistic. End-of-life vehicles belong to the last owner, and the market is and will remain free: no manufacturer will be able to circumvent this reality. The value of recycled materials, steel, aluminum, and others, will never be entirely decoupled from the dynamics of the raw materials market. Supply and demand will set prices, not the wishes of individual parties.

What will truly change is the structure of the market: operators capable of building functional networks, collaborating effectively with OEMs, and offering guarantees of traceability and quality will play a stronger role. Those who remain isolated will have less of a voice.

No Single Model Will Define the Future

Over the next five to ten years, there is unlikely to be a single winning model for vehicle recycling in Europe. Small family-run dismantlers, large industrialised ATFs and OEM-linked recycling networks will continue to coexist, with each playing a role shaped by local conditions and market needs.

Every business, small, medium, or large, will find its own space, depending on territorial requirements and market dynamics, as well as individual entrepreneurial choices: every authorized operator has the right to work and carve out their place in the market.

Pollini Group positions itself as an industrialized center, with the goal of being the top performer in terms of material recirculation and reuse, continuously improving service quality and territorial presence. In the areas where we already operate, our commitment is to consistently raise the standard of service offered, both to manufacturers and to private customers.

Competing in a Global Recycling Market

The vehicle recycling sector is becoming something very different from what it was even ten years ago. European regulation, OEM circularity strategies, the security of strategic materials, vehicle electrification, and, not least, the very rapid rise of Chinese manufacturers are redefining the rules of the game globally.

In this context, the recyclers that will succeed are those capable of competing on both service quality and cost competitiveness. It is no longer enough to be skilled at dismantling vehicles: quality must permeate every phase of the process, from vehicle intake to parts traceability, from materials management to regulatory reporting. Investment in technology, innovation, and increasingly efficient processes is essential.

But there is one element that risks being underestimated: human resources. The growing complexity of the sector, regulatory, operational, commercial, requires well-trained, skilled people in sufficient numbers. Organizational and managerial capability will become just as much a competitive factor as technology. Those who do not invest in their people will not be able to deliver the quality that the global market will increasingly demand.