Background An estimated 8.5 million vehicles are discarded every year in the EU, with the number expected to double by 2015. This currently results in around 8 million tonnes of waste per annum, of which 2 to 2.5 million tonnes is auto shredder residue produced from vehicle recycling, which is generally contaminated with heavy metals, oil and other lubricating fluids. This is land filled in most member states - incineration can prove problematic due to heavy metal and PVC content. However, both the EC Directive on End-of-Life Vehicles (ELV) and the Directive on Waste Electrical Electronic Equipment (WEEE) are forcing the automotive and electronics sectors to take responsibility for the safe end-of-life disposal of their products. For instance, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) selling in or to Europe are required to achieve an increase in the rate of ELV parts re-use and recovery of 85% by 2006 and to provide environmental information to life cycle stakeholders and legislative bodies regarding products (e.g. materials and composition, location of hazardous material and removal route, special handling/dismantling instructions etc). The ELV directive has resulted in a range of initiatives to address waste reduction; however they are cumbersome and difficult to apply as they measure compliance after the fact and make adjustments accordingly to products and processes. Objectives The project’s main objective was to develop a demonstration tool for designing components and sub-assemblies in the automotive sector incorporating environmental compliance requirements, particularly with respect to the End-of-life Vehicles Directive. The aim was that the tool would integrate the most common design tools and manufacturing management systems providing an automated advisor to design-engineers across the supply chains, enabling them to optimise legislative compliance. The project aimed to address disassembly, a key element in the recycling of complex machines such as cars and to assess the performance of the prototype, showing the environmental, technical and economic benefits to interest groups in Europe. The project aimed to analyse the requirements across the automotive sector supply chain, including the very significant level of sub-suppliers within Ireland, with regard to design for environmental compliance. It intended to assess other relevant approaches currently being used. The project planned to carry out development in two stages - an initial pilot process to determine basic system design parameters followed by the full demonstrator system. Both stages were to be rigorously tested and validated and a full business analysis carried out, from both environmental (Life Cycle Analysis) and cost-benefit analysis. It was expected that during the project, 10 suppliers in Ireland would use the tool to design products with a recyclability of materials of over 90%. 40 automotive supply and recycling companies in Ireland and 20 in Germany were expected to demonstrate the system. A simulator of the demonstrator and a detailed multimedia case study would have supported dissemination. Thereby, the project intended to prove the environmental, technical and economic benefits of the system for the targeted industrial sectors in Europe. Results The DFAuto project regrettably had to close early due to lack of support from the lead manufacturers in the automotive sector. The project was able to meet some of its early objectives and the pilot scale model and associated software development tool were well researched, well presented and perceived to be of potential benefit in determining the life cycle analysis of a wide range of materials. The DFAuto tool could be adopted in any number of sectors (not just the automotive industry) provided that the major players in those sectors were willing to 'buy into' the approach and adopt the relevant technology to recycle more efficiently. However due to a change in the interpretation of the ELV directive which it seems will allow for the shredding of motor parts the main manufacturers are confident that they can meet the 85% target for recycling by pursuing this route. Therefore, although the project developed an extremely useful piece of Life Cycle Analysis software to a pilot stage, they were unable to take this forward to a demonstration stage due to the lack of interest. However, if the sector specific information is stripped out from the LCA tool it can be applied to other sectors or even specific products. The project proponents (GMIT) are now pursuing the Life Cycle Costing Tool with a local manufacturer of refrigerated trucks (ThermoKing) and, with their financial assistance, the product should be ready by early 2009. Perhaps the single most important lesson to be learned from this experience is that the industry must be signed up as a project partner at the outset.