Digital platform service to connect ELV cluster and prepared for new regulation
In February 2023, Finnish Car Recycling Ltd, The Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra, and Vediafi Ltd launched a development project aimed at creating a Proof of Concept (PoC) platform for national End-of-Life Vehicle (ELV) reporting and monitoring. The project was preceded by a preliminary study funded by Sitra, in which the main features, demand, and potential impact were analysed. The development project involved key stakeholders from the Finnish ELV ecosystem through a project steering board. Additionally, all four official ELV waste operators were interviewed during the project.
In spring 2024, the development project was successfully completed. Finnish Car Recycling Ltd, in collaboration with Vediafi Ltd, decided to further develop the PoC into a production-ready platform. All necessary steps were completed by the end of May, and final service approval was received from the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency Traficom, allowing the platform to go live in early June 2024. Since then, the DELV platform has been in production and is actively collecting data from all ELVs reported in Finland.
New ELV regulation demands more transparency and data to fulfil reporting requirements
The DELV platform is Finland’s answer to new regulations. It is designed to help producers meet emerging requirements while offering a fully digital and transparent, data-driven approach that enables stakeholders to report their activities and generate necessary reports. Although the DELV platform is developed in Finland, the Finnish vehicle recycling consortium, through Autoloop Ltd, can offer it to other producer organizations and countries as well.
DELV – Digital End of Life Vehicle platform
The DELV platform is a central system integrated with all official ELV partners of Producers Responsibility Organization Finnish Car recycling Ltd. It collects data used for national producer responsibility reporting and monitoring. In addition, DELV provides a new customer-facing channel that helps private consumers and companies locate official ELV service providers. This new channel complements existing systems, as all official ELV actors can continue to use their current customer portals.
Finnish Car Recycling Ltd is the official ELV producer responsibility organization in Finland and also issues Certificates of Destruction for ELVs. This certificate is an integral part of the DELV process. The platform offers users online access to a digital copy of the certificate, allowing them to retrieve it later if needed.
The DELV platform is directly connected to Finland’s official vehicle registry, managed by Transport and Communication Agency Traficom. It can request official vehicle data, which is used in ELV reporting and analysis. Each vehicle is tracked individually using its unique Vehicle Identification Number (VIN). For each ELV, DELV monitors all events and actions taken, enabling the creation of a complete digital track record. “This is something which can be called combination of digital twin and Digital Product Passport for both ELVs and EV batteries. We are linking all essential information to database whether it’s technical car data or ELV process data and then enrich that with external data for example from material streams.”, says Juha Kenraali, CEO of Autoloop Ltd.
One of the key features of DELV is its emphasis on security and data management. DELV anonymizes all data used for analysis while still enabling vehicle-level process monitoring. It handles data from multiple waste operators and integrates with the Traficom vehicle registry. “Therefore, we have had to pay special attention to information security and secure data handling within the system.” tells Lasse Nykänen, CEO of Vediafi Ltd.
Data driven process and value adding features
In DELV it is all about the data. The platform collects information from all ELV partners, producers, consumers, the official vehicle registry and several supplementary sources such as research institutions, and Statistics Finland. All this data is integrated into a business intelligence module to produce in-depth analyses and forecasts related to vehicle recycling.
For every ELV, DELV generates a unique DELV code, which enables smart grouping of vehicles. Behind the smart grouping there is a new method invented by Finnish Car Recycling. Additionally, DELV arises and calculates a reuse potential score for each vehicle entered into the system. This value helps ELV partners decide whether a vehicle is of interest for dismantling and parts reuse.
DELV platform provides training materials on responsibility and best practices, as well as accurate performance statistics that can be used, for example, in ESG reporting. Beyond vehicles, DELV also includes a portal for battery reporting, where producers, distributors or collectors can order a transport for treatment of EV batteries and report both imported and recycled batteries.
For the spare parts business and dismantlers, DELV offers a marketplace where take-back points can list available ELVs for dismantling. All authorized partners can view and purchase vehicles listed on the marketplace, even across company boundaries.
The DELV platform has been in production in Finland for one year, during which recycling volumes have increased. It is a cloud-based solution that can be deployed in other countries, thanks to its modern, agile interfaces and modular architecture. Currently DELV is also part of Digital Europe project initiative, where we are seeking international collaboration partners. “We are delighted with the results of DELV so far — they have exceeded our expectations. DELV is a strong example of societal innovation that advances both the circular economy and the data economy across Europe,” says Senior Lead Heikki Aura from Sitra.
More information: Juha Kenraali, CEO, Finnish Car Recycling Ltd.
+358 40 772 2026 or juha.kenraali@autokierratys.fi