IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v17y2025i8p3691-d1637916.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

An Environmental Life-Cycle Assessment of End-of-Life Vehicles Management in Romania

Author

Listed:
  • Florenta Dinita

    (Department of Environmental Engineering and Management, “Cristofor Simionescu” Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Environmental Protection, “Gheorghe Asachi” Technical University of Iasi, 73 Prof. D. Mangeron Blvd., 700050 Iasi, Romania)

  • George Barjoveanu

    (Department of Environmental Engineering and Management, “Cristofor Simionescu” Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Environmental Protection, “Gheorghe Asachi” Technical University of Iasi, 73 Prof. D. Mangeron Blvd., 700050 Iasi, Romania)

  • Carmen Teodosiu

    (Department of Environmental Engineering and Management, “Cristofor Simionescu” Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Environmental Protection, “Gheorghe Asachi” Technical University of Iasi, 73 Prof. D. Mangeron Blvd., 700050 Iasi, Romania)

Abstract

This study evaluates the environmental impacts of end-of-life vehicle (ELV) management in Romania using a life-cycle assessment (LCA). It focuses on the current scenario of ELV waste generation and models current ELV practices like reuse, recycling, energy recovery, and final disposal with the goal of understanding the environmental impacts and benefits of the ELV recycling system and the trade-offs needed to improve its environmental performance. The investigation is based on a statistical analysis of retired cars in 2020 and Eurostat data on ELV waste composition. The results indicate that current practices meet the 85% recovery target, with recycling being the dominant method. The environmental analysis shows that recycling provides the greatest net environmental benefits, while landfilling has negative impacts, especially in climate change and marine eco-toxicity categories. An optimized scenario, which minimizes landfilling and increases recycling, leads to significant improvements in air- and resource-related categories and shows that improving the ELV waste management practices for better dismantling, separation, and recycling is crucial for enhancing the ELV management performance.

Suggested Citation

  • Florenta Dinita & George Barjoveanu & Carmen Teodosiu, 2025. "An Environmental Life-Cycle Assessment of End-of-Life Vehicles Management in Romania," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(8), pages 1-18, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:8:p:3691-:d:1637916
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/8/3691/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/8/3691/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Izaskun Alvarez-Meaza & Enara Zarrabeitia-Bilbao & Rosa Maria Rio-Belver & Gaizka Garechana-Anacabe, 2020. "Fuel-Cell Electric Vehicles: Plotting a Scientific and Technological Knowledge Map," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-25, March.
    2. George Barjoveanu & Florenta Dinita & Carmen Teodosiu, 2022. "Aging Passenger Car Fleet Structure, Dynamics, and Environmental Performance Evaluation at the Regional Level by Life Cycle Assessment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-18, July.
    3. Yang, Zijun & Wang, Bowen & Jiao, Kui, 2020. "Life cycle assessment of fuel cell, electric and internal combustion engine vehicles under different fuel scenarios and driving mileages in China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 198(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. George Barjoveanu & Florenta Dinita & Carmen Teodosiu, 2022. "Aging Passenger Car Fleet Structure, Dynamics, and Environmental Performance Evaluation at the Regional Level by Life Cycle Assessment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-18, July.
    2. da Costa, Vinicius Braga Ferreira & Bitencourt, Leonardo & Dias, Bruno Henriques & Soares, Tiago & de Andrade, Jorge Vleberton Bessa & Bonatto, Benedito Donizeti, 2025. "Life cycle assessment comparison of electric and internal combustion vehicles: A review on the main challenges and opportunities," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 208(C).
    3. Desreveaux, A. & Bouscayrol, A. & Trigui, R. & Hittinger, E. & Castex, E. & Sirbu, G.M., 2023. "Accurate energy consumption for comparison of climate change impact of thermal and electric vehicles," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 268(C).
    4. Liu, Yajie & Dong, Feng & Wang, Yulong & Li, Jingyun & Qin, Chang, 2023. "Assessment of the energy-saving and environment effects of China's gasoline vehicle withdrawal under the impact of geopolitical risks," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 86(PB).
    5. Tang, Qingsong & Yang, Yang & Luo, Chang & Yang, Zhong & Fu, Chunyun, 2022. "A novel electro-hydraulic compound braking system coordinated control strategy for a four-wheel-drive pure electric vehicle driven by dual motors," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 241(C).
    6. Liang, Yanan & Kleijn, René & Tukker, Arnold & van der Voet, Ester, 2022. "Material requirements for low-carbon energy technologies: A quantitative review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    7. Doyeon Lee & Keunhwan Kim, 2021. "Research and Development Investment and Collaboration Framework for the Hydrogen Economy in South Korea," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-28, September.
    8. Lu, Qiang & Zhang, Bo & Yang, Shichun & Peng, Zhaoxia, 2022. "Life cycle assessment on energy efficiency of hydrogen fuel cell vehicle in China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 257(C).
    9. Mariano Gallo & Mario Marinelli, 2020. "Sustainable Mobility: A Review of Possible Actions and Policies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-39, September.
    10. Yang, Zirong & Jiao, Kui & Wu, Kangcheng & Shi, Weilong & Jiang, Shangfeng & Zhang, Longhai & Du, Qing, 2021. "Numerical investigations of assisted heating cold start strategies for proton exchange membrane fuel cell systems," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 222(C).
    11. Yu Yang & Chao Wang & Shujun Yang & Xianzhi Tang, 2022. "Study on Top Hierarchy Control Strategy of AEBS over Regenerative Brake and Hydraulic Brake for Hub Motor Drive BEVs," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(22), pages 1-17, November.
    12. Shi, Lei & Wu, Rongxin & Lin, Boqiang, 2023. "Where will go for electric vehicles in China after the government subsidy incentives are abolished? A controversial consumer perspective," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 262(PA).
    13. Kim, Donghwan & Kim, Jisoo & Son, Yousang & Park, Sungwook, 2024. "Characteristics of the in-cylinder flow and spray for intake valve timing in an optical GDI engine with spray-guided injection," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 307(C).
    14. Fernando Enzo Kenta Sato & Toshihiko Nakata, 2020. "Energy Consumption Analysis for Vehicle Production through a Material Flow Approach," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-18, May.
    15. Eduardo J. C. Cavalcanti & Daniel R. S. da Silva & Monica Carvalho, 2022. "Life Cycle and Exergoenvironmental Analyses of Ethanol: Performance of a Flex-Fuel Spark-Ignition Engine at Wide-Open Throttle Conditions," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-19, February.
    16. Eugene Yin Cheung Wong & Danny Chi Kuen Ho & Stuart So & Chi-Wing Tsang & Eve Man Hin Chan, 2021. "Life Cycle Assessment of Electric Vehicles and Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicles Using the GREET Model—A Comparative Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-14, April.
    17. Olivier Bethoux, 2020. "Hydrogen Fuel Cell Road Vehicles and Their Infrastructure: An Option towards an Environmentally Friendly Energy Transition," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-27, November.
    18. Cao, Qiming & Min, Haitao & Sun, Weiyi & Zhao, Honghui & Yu, Yuanbin & Zhang, Zhaopu & Jiang, Junyu, 2024. "A method of combining active and passive strategies by genetic algorithm in multi-stage cold start of proton exchange membrane fuel cell," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 288(C).
    19. Gregory Trencher & Achmed Edianto, 2021. "Drivers and Barriers to the Adoption of Fuel Cell Passenger Vehicles and Buses in Germany," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-26, February.
    20. Yuuki Yoshimoto & Koki Kishimoto & Kanchan Kumar Sen & Takako Mochida & Andrew Chapman, 2023. "Toward Economically Efficient Carbon Reduction: Contrasting Greening Plastic Supply Chains with Alternative Energy Policy Approaches," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(17), pages 1-19, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:8:p:3691-:d:1637916. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.