A mountain road – VW Recycling for sustainability

Recycling and return at Volkswagen

Is your Volkswagen about to reach its final decommissioning? As a manufacturer, we are aware of our responsibilities and will take back our products once they have reached the end of their service life. Learn more about the recycling process here as well as the legal conditions for a free-of-charge return of end-of-life vehicles, batteries, and waste electrical and electronic equipment.

A road above a body of water leading into the mountains
Recycling

Recycling-oriented construction

Sustainability is an integral part of our entire process chain, impacting the product planning, production and recycling of a vehicle. The measures contribute to environmental preservation, for example by helping conserve resources.

Measures implemented during vehicle development

As early as the development stage of your new Volkswagen, measures are taken to ensure that the vehicle can be recycled in an environmentally friendly manner once it reaches the end of its service life.

Recycled materials at Volkswagen

Our goal is to reduce our consumption of new raw materials. To this end, we use recycled materials when manufacturing our vehicles, e.g. plastic recycled materials that are made of waste or scrap material from production. They make up a small part of the new vehicle.

Consistent quality

Whether they are new products or recycled materials, all of our components meet our high standards. We only use high-quality recycled materials which are subject to rigorous testing before being deployed.

Our plastic recycled materials using the example of two models
A red VW Golf 8

Golf 8

We will explain the use of plastic recycled materials on and in the Golf 8.

A VW ID.4 parked on a track with a misty mountain background

ID.4

Find out here where plastic recycled materials are used in the ID.4 and what proportion they constitute.

Rays of sunlight break through the leaves of a tree
Our end-of-life recycling service

Simple and free of charge

Is it time for your Volkswagen to be recycled and re-used? Just call 0800 542 2002 or visit www.rewardingrecycling.co.ukOpens an external link to arrange collection or to deliver it to one of our many return centres.

From here it will be recycled for you, free of charge (terms and coditions apply).

The recycling process

There are five steps to the end-of-life process:

  1. Return
  2. Pre-treatment
  3. Removal
  4. Shredding
  5. Post-shredding
A Volkswagen Genuine Battery
Return and recycling of batteries

Batteries do not belong in household waste. Learn here about what to do with end-of-life batteries.

Industrial Batteries

As a producer of industrial batteries under the Waste Batteries and Accumulators Regulations 2009, Volkswagen produce NiMH, Li-Ion and lead-acid industrial batteries. We are obliged to take back free of charge, waste industrial batteries supplied to an end user for treatment and recycling. We are required to do this in any calendar year we place new industrial batteries on the market. If any of our customers or in certain cases other end users, require us to take back Industrial batteries, they should contact us at environment@vwg.co.ukOpens a mail link.  We will agree the necessary arrangements for the return, proper treatment and recycling of the waste industrial batteries. 

Automotive batteries

As a producer of automotive batteries under the Waste Batteries and Accumulators Regulations 2009, we Volkswagen are obliged to collect, free of charge and within a reasonable time, waste automotive batteries for treatment and recycling from final holders e.g. garages, scrap yards, end-of-life vehicle Authorised Treatment Facilities, Civic Amenity Sites, etc. We are required to do this in any calendar year we place new automotive batteries on the market.

If you require us to take back any automotive batteries, please contact us at environment@vwg.co.ukOpens a mail link. We will agree the necessary arrangements for the collection, proper treatment and recycling of the waste automotive batteries. 

Return and recycling of end-of-life electrical and electronic equipment

We will gladly inform you about your rights and duties when disposing of old electrical or electronic devices.

Symbol of a dustbin with a line through it – proper disposal

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