Pilot 4 / Value Chain 3: Vehicle End-of-Life Material Recovery
End-of-life public transport vehicles contain materials and components that can be reused, recycled or valorised.
However, CARRIS has limited visibility over the end-of-life process, which makes it difficult to collect related indicators and influence recycling, reuse and recovery practices. A significant share of under-valued assets is not yet reused or recycled.
The Lisbon pilot links end-of-life bus management with the maintenance of vehicles still in service. The approach examines how components can be recovered from retiring buses and reused within the active fleet, alongside the established routes for dismantling and material recycling. It connects CARRIS maintenance operations with the end-of-life treatment chain involving BGR and the VALORCAR network.
Vehicle treatment begins with depollution and the removal of fluids, batteries and other materials requiring controlled handling. Dismantling can then separate reusable components from material fractions intended for recycling. The pilot's component scope includes items such as engines, gearboxes, alternators, pumps, headlights, doors, glazing and seats, while material recovery considers metals, plastics, glass and rubber.
The CSSBoost work places particular emphasis on documenting the removal and reuse of parts and relating these operations to the receiving vehicle's maintenance. This creates a link between vehicle retirement and continued fleet operation. TRACK supports the collection of pilot information, alongside monitoring of energy use, distance travelled, maintenance and waste.
The pathway builds on existing fleet-management and authorised waste-treatment practices. Its demonstration focuses on making reuse activity and its contribution to the vehicle lifecycle more visible and assessable, with component-specific suitability and traceability remaining central to practical application.
The monitoring work follows the removal of components from end-of-life buses and their use in vehicles that remain in service. This is considered alongside maintenance activity and material recovery. Identifying the component and its movement between the donor and receiving vehicle helps distinguish reuse from routine replacement. The pilot is refining these records and their relationship to TRACK and the wider fleet data model.
End-of-life bus recovery was already part of CARRIS's operations. Before a vehicle was transferred for downstream treatment, the internal maintenance team assessed which components could be removed and stored for reuse in vehicles still operating. Decisions depended on component condition and the number of compatible vehicles remaining in the fleet. Waste-management operators then handled collection, dismantling, depollution and separation of reusable parts and recoverable materials. CSSBoost investigates opportunities to improve information about these flows and to increase the valorisation of underused components and residues.
Interviews and process mapping with BGR have examined component harvesting according to condition and fleet needs. Further work is exploring battery and filter streams.
Recovery routes depend on component condition, vehicle category and applicable safety and waste requirements. Project-wide recovery performance is still being assessed.