Renault Group and Suez join forces to fast-track circularity in Europe’s automotive sector

RENAULT GROUP AND SUEZ JOIN FORCES TO FAST-TRACK CIRCULARITY IN EUROPE’S AUTOMOTIVE SECTOR

• The two groups agree to step up their long-term cooperation and position The Future Is NEUTRAL as a standard-setter in the automotive sector’s circular economy.
• SUEZ acquires a 20% stake in The Future Is NEUTRAL to team up with Renault Group, which will henceforth own 80% of the company.
• Through this operation, The Future Is NEUTRAL receives €140 million from its two shareholders to boost and broaden its operation serving Europe’s entire automotive industry.
• The stake will be transferred and the contributions will be made once the necessary regulatory authorisations are obtained.

Boulogne-Billancourt, 3 October 2024 – Renault Group and SUEZ step up their long-term partnership, which encompasses recycling waste metal and recovering end-of-life vehicles, with strategic agreements aimed at supporting the ecological transition in the automotive sector. Together, Renault Group and SUEZ, a world leader in waste recycling and recovery, will put The Future Is NEUTRAL in a position to speed up its expansion and rank among the standard-setters in the automotive industry’s circular economy.

“SUEZ’s decision to team up with us in The Future Is NEUTRAL is new evidence that coming up with this model was the right move. Our joint investment will allow us to accelerate in order to provide an open circular economy platform that meets the needs of all players in the automotive industry, in growing activities. We are doing this by strengthening existing operations and creating new closed-loop recycling solutions, from car to car” states Luca de Meo, CEO of Renault Group.

“By investing in The Future Is NEUTRAL alongside Renault Group, SUEZ is moving into a stronger position to support automotive industry players on their ecological transition. Securing secondary raw material supplies is one of the key challenges the automotive sector has to address over the coming years. Our expertise in waste recycling and recovery will enable us to support the sector’s transformation as it transitions towards more circularity and to reduce its reliance on virgin raw materials” explains Sabrina Soussan, Chairman and CEO of SUEZ.

TEAMING UP TO SPEED UP THE CAR-TO-CAR ECONOMY

Renault Group and SUEZ are pooling their technical expertise and industrial capabilities within The Future Is NEUTRAL, to build the new value chain in the car-to-car circular economy. Their goal is to work with the various players in the sector to lessen their impact on natural resources, stay ahead of developments in regulation and provide new sources of recycled materials and parts.

Renault will contribute:

• Its operation covering the entire automotive value chain and vehicle life cycle (design, useful life and end of life);
• Its expertise in automobile eco-design and the skills of its teams trained and keen to rise to this challenge;
• The industrial capabilities at its Refactory in Flins (France), Europe’s first circular economy base specialised in mobility, which is active in a variety of fields including vehicle refurbishing, part remanufacturing and industrial robot revamping.
  
  

SUEZ will pool:

• Its in-depth knowledge of automobile recycling all the way upstream (carmakers and equipment manufacturers) and downstream (steelmakers and casters);
• Its expertise in automobile waste management (collection, massification, sorting and material recovery);
• Its industrial-scale capacity to produce consistent flows of recycled raw materials for its customers.
  
  

Together, both groups will develop the following key activities: design for recycling, reverse logistics, vehicle waste management and closed-loop car-to-car recycling.

THE FUTURE IS NEUTRAL, THE FIRST PLAYER IN 360° AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY CIRCULARITY WORLDWIDE

The Future Is NEUTRAL, which was launched at Renault Group’s initiative, provides comprehensive circular economy solutions for:

• All automotive sector players – carmakers, equipment manufacturers, distributors, insurers and private customers;
• Every stage in the vehicle’s life cycle: recycled materials for production; reusable, refurbished and remanufactured parts; end-of-life vehicle collection, management and recovery services.

“SUEZ’s investment in The Future Is NEUTRAL is a decisive milestone in our plan to open up to the entire automotive industry. With our two shareholders’ support, we will be able to confirm our growth roadmap aimed at expanding and massifying our solutions while making them even more competitive. A large part of our operation in the closed-loop circular economy value chain is already up, running and profitable. We are working on integrating closed-loop battery recycling and scaling up to industrial levels together in the near future, to work with Europe’s automotive industry on its journey to circularity” points out Jean-Philippe Bahuaud, CEO of The Future Is NEUTRAL.

More information about The Future Is NEUTRAL

The circular economy’s levers to limit the automotive industry’s impact on natural resources

> Preparing to use secondary (recycled) raw materials during design and production. This is a vital goal: cars are 85% recyclable but are made with less than 30% of recycled materials today.

> Extending cars’ useful life by reusing, refurbishing, repairing and remanufacturing as many parts as possible. These new possibilities cost less for users and are easier on the environment than new parts.

> Recovering used parts and recycling materials from end-of-life vehicles
11 million vehicles are scrapped every year in Europe. Tapping into this stream to recover parts that can still be used and retrieve raw materials for recycling limits the need to mine virgin raw materials.

About Renault Group
Renault Group is at the forefront of reinventing mobility. Backed by its alliance with Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors, and its unique expertise in terms of electrification, Renault Group draws on the complementary nature of its four brands – Renault, Dacia, Alpine and Mobilize – to offer its customers sustainable and innovative mobility solutions. With operations in more than 130 countries, the Group sold 2.235 million vehicles in 2023. It employs more than 105,000 people who embody its raison d'être on a daily basis, so that mobility brings us closer to one another.

Ready to take up challenges on the road as well as in competition, the Group is committed to an ambitious and value-generating transformation. This is centred on the development of new technologies and services, and a new range of even more competitive, balanced and electrified vehicles. In line with environmental challenges, Renault Group's ambition is to achieve carbon neutrality in Europe by 2040.

More information: The Future Is NEUTRAL

About SUEZ

Faced with growing environmental challenges, SUEZ has been delivering essential services that protect and improve our quality of life for more than 160 years. SUEZ provides its customers with innovative and resilient solutions for water and waste services. With 40,000 employees across 40 countries, the Group works with customers to create value over the full lifecycle of their assets and services, and to drive their low carbon transition. In 2023, SUEZ provided drinking water for 57 million people worldwide and sanitation services for more than 36 million people. The Group generated 7.7 TWh of energy from waste and wastewater. In 2023, SUEZ has generated revenues of 8.9 billion euros. For more information: www.suez.com

APPENDIX

THE FUTURE IS NEUTRAL, AN INTEGRATED PLATFORM PROVIDING SOLUTIONS FOR THE ENTIRE AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY

The solutions available from The Future Is NEUTRAL cover the entire value chain. They leverage the expertise in all its operating branches, which are all leaders in their respective field:

• GAIA is a pioneer in closed-loop automobile material recycling and an expert in electric traction battery recycling;
• BOONE COMENOR METALIMPEX has set the worldwide standard for ferrous and non-ferrous waste recycling in the automotive sector for 125 years;
• THE REMAKERS is pioneering internal-combustion, mechatronic and electric car part remanufacturing;
• INDRA is a specialist in end-of-life vehicles and runs France’s leading vehicle dismantling network. It plays a prominent part in systems set up by carmakers to comply with France’s AGEC (anti-waste) law, and is a trusted partner to insurers and communities.

These solutions, suited to cars’ life cycles and sized for industrial-scale operations, are a concrete answer to professionals’ requirements relating to:

• Limiting their impact on natural resources and making a positive contribution through their own sustainability strategies;
• Managing strategic material supply chains more efficiently and effectively by setting up channels to source secondary (recycled) raw materials;
• Anticipating developments in regulation.
  
  

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