The Future is NEUTRAL has expanded AutoLOOP beyond ELV materials into EV battery collection, giving authorised centres a single digital route to request pickups, record battery and batch data, and secure compliant downstream treatment. The platform’s value lies in better traceability, simpler logistics and stronger support for closed-loop recovery under Europe’s tightening battery rules.
“Professionalisation and digitalisation of materials and battery collection: that is our purpose. AutoLOOP is a unique platform designed to improve the recovery of end-of-life vehicles, ensuring simplicity, competitiveness and traceability.” – Antoine Chéreau, Business Developer – The Future is NEUTRAL
AutoLOOP: How does it work?
ELV centres collect end-of-life vehicles, whether they are petrol, diesel, electric or hybrid, as is the case with the INDRA AUTOMOBILE RECYCLING network, the leading ELV processing company in France.
ELV centres deregister, secure and decontaminate them: removal of traction batteries, extraction of fluids, heavy metals and refrigerant gases, and neutralisation of pyrotechnic components (airbags or pretensioners).
The ELV centre submits a collection request via AutoLOOP for batteries from client brands (Individual System or eco-organisations that have chosen AutoLOOP for the collection of their batteries).
The ELV centre dismantles the vehicle and extracts parts for reuse and parts for material recycling.
Parts intended for recycling are grouped into batches. For example, bumpers from ELVs (which cannot be reused as spare parts) are placed in containers. Once a minimum volume is reached – primarily to optimise transport costs – the ELV centre can offer its batch for sale on AutoLOOP.
To do this, on the AutoLOOP platform, the ELV centre records the characteristics of the batches of parts and each battery:
✓ Batches of parts: type, quality, packaging, weight or total quantity, etc.
Once the quantity, quality and price have been agreed, the platform arranges collection and transport, as well as invoicing.
✓ Battery: battery type, Battery Identification Number and Vehicle Identification
Number (BIN and VIN), battery status, any damage, photos, etc.
Following analysis, the platform arranges the supply of specific battery packaging and its transport to specialised facilities operated by NEUTRAL and its partners, where it is unloaded, dismantled and recycled in accordance with the objectives of European regulatory requirements.
✓ AutoLOOP complies with the requirements for closed-loop battery recycling, ensuring that strategic metals are recovered for reuse in new batteries.
AutoLOOP and material recycling
AutoLOOP and battery recycling
Definitions
✓ Polypropylene: a major family of plastics, commonly found in a vehicle’s bumpers.
✓ Copper: found in wiring harnesses, electric motors and traction batteries.
✓ Platinum Group Metals (PGM): rhodium, palladium and platinum, found in catalytic converters.
✓ Aluminium: commonly found in body panels (bonnet, fenders, doors, tailgates), cast components (wheels, engine or gearbox housings) and traction batteries.
✓ Cobalt, lithium, nickel: commonly found in the batteries of electric or hybrid vehicles.
✓ Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR): Extended Producer Responsibility engages manufacturers, distributors and importers in a circular economy approach. They help to extend the life of products and reduce waste by incorporating eco-design, repair, reuse and recycling. Since August 2025, EPR has extended producers’ responsibility to the management and financing of the end-of-life of traction batteries.
✓ Eco-organisation: a collective body approved by the State that takes charge, on behalf of its members, of all obligations related to Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR).
✓ Individual System: is a customised but more demanding option. It allows the manufacturer to fulfil its obligations without going through an eco-organisation.
This approach is best suited to companies that are able to manage the supply chain from start to finish and wish to secure their own supply of recycled material in anticipation of future regulatory requirements.
About The Future is NEUTRAL
The Future is NEUTRAL is the only circular economy player in the automotive sector serving the entire automotive industry across Europe. Its solutions are tailored to every stage of the automotive lifecycle, from sourcing recycled materials to supplying circular economy parts and responsibly collecting and processing end-of-life vehicles. With 425,000 end-of-life vehicles processed per year, a catalog of 10 million reused parts, and over 2 million tonnes of recycled materials annually, The Future is NEUTRAL is scaling up closed-loop automotive circularity at an industrial level, from car to car.
More information: www.thefutureisneutral.com
About INDRA AUTOMOBILE RECYCLING
INDRA AUTOMOBILE RECYCLING, a 100% subsidiary of The Future is NEUTRAL, is a long-standing reference in the treatment and recovery of damaged and end-of-life vehicles. It provides solutions for all stakeholders in the industry: insurers, dismantling centres, manufacturers, equipment suppliers, distribution and repair networks, local authorities, and private customers. INDRA processes over 400,000 end-of-life vehicles per year through a network of 350 certified dismantling centres, offering its clients a comprehensive range of services covering the entire value chain. The company also plays a key role in professionalizing the sector, thanks to its deep market and regulatory knowledge, engineering expertise, and its AURECA training center.
About GAIA
GAIA, a 100% subsidiary of The Future is NEUTRAL, is a pioneer in automotive circular economy since 1998. Based at the Refactory in Flins, GAIA addresses a wide range of customer challenges, developing tailor-made solutions at various levels of the value chain: closed-loop recycling of automotive materials, repurposing of obsolete stock and end-of-life fleets, and repair and reuse of traction batteries. More than 18 000 batteries have been already recycled by GAIA since 2012.
Further Reading on Auto Recycling World
- The Future is NEUTAL: leading the automotive circular economy
- The Future is NEUTRAL operates the first “individual system” in France for recycling EV batteries
- EU Council and Parliament agree new vehicle circularity and ELV rules
- IDEA project: Data sharing for circular end-of-life EV batteries
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