The Future is NEUTRAL Accelerates Its European Expansion
A New Milestone in Structuring the European End-of-Life Vehicle Market
The European end-of-life vehicle (ELV) market is entering a period of profound transformation. With nearly 5.3 million vehicles processed each year across approximately 13,000 treatment facilities, the sector remains highly fragmented despite its strategic importance for both the automotive industry and the environmental transition.
Following a peak in 2009, the number of dismantled vehicles has gradually declined due to a combination of factors, including longer vehicle lifespans, rising new vehicle prices, and increasing exports of used vehicles outside the regulated European framework. As a result, a significant share of vehicle flows still escapes the official treatment network, limiting the overall efficiency of recycling activities.
This landscape is rapidly evolving. The forthcoming European ELV Regulation represents a major turning point for the industry, strengthening vehicle traceability, introducing stricter controls on exports, and imposing more ambitious recycling and reuse requirements. By 2032, the incorporation of recycled materials into vehicles—particularly plastics, with a minimum content requirement of 15%—is expected to become standard practice. At the same time, obligations placed on treatment operators and vehicle manufacturers will increase significantly.
In this new environment, consolidation and industrialization are becoming essential levers for meeting both regulatory and environmental requirements.
Italy: A Key Market at the Heart of the European Strategy
Against this evolving backdrop, Italy stands out as a priority market. With approximately 800,000 vehicles processed each year, it is one of Europe’s leading automotive dismantling markets. However, the sector remains highly fragmented, offering substantial opportunities for consolidation and industrial development.
For The Future is NEUTRAL, Italy represents far more than a growth opportunity. It is a strategic foothold for securing access to recycled materials, expanding parts reuse activities, and strengthening an integrated European ecosystem dedicated to automotive circularity.
Pollini Group: A Leading Industrial Player in Italy
It is within this context that the partnership with Pollini Group takes shape. As a leading automotive recycling company in Italy, Pollini Group has built a strong and efficient industrial model over more than forty years and remains owned by its founding family. Pollini Group has built a strong and efficient industrial model over more than forty years and remains owned by its founding family.
With 12 sites across Northern Italy, 330 employees, and the capacity to process 30,000 vehicles annually, Pollini Group covers the entire ELV value chain, from vehicle collection to the resale of reused parts. Its flagship facility, spanning nearly 80,000 square meters, exemplifies this integrated industrial approach, combining operational efficiency with advanced recycling technologies.
Beyond its scale, Pollini Group stands out for its ability to maximize the recovery of materials—including metals, plastics, glass, and rubber—while meeting the highest environmental standards. This expertise positions the company as one of the best-equipped players to support the sector’s ongoing transformation.
Simone Pollini
Chief Executive Officer and shareholder, Pollini Group
“For 40 years, we’ve built something we’re proud of: an industrialized system for managing end-of-life vehicles, one that lets us run and control remote sites while staying perfectly connected to our head office, in real time. From the moment we collect a vehicle, we track every step digitally — transport, depollution, treatment, parts recovery, sales, right through to producing materials ready for recycling — so we can guarantee the highest level of circularity in everything we handle. None of this would have been possible without the hard work and investment of three brothers — Giuseppe, Maurizio, and me, Simone — and today our sons, Matteo and Giacomo, are carrying that forward. And who knows, other Pollini’s might be ready to join us on this journey yet. We also want to thank our whole team: their dedication and spirit of collaboration have been the extra energy behind everything we’ve built. Our partnership with The Future is Neutral will give us even more strength and room to grow, through shared knowledge and a real boost toward international growth — something that would be hard to achieve without a partner already so well-established across Europe.”
A Strategic Alliance to Build a European Leader in Automotive Circular Economy
In January 2026, The Future is NEUTRAL reached a significant milestone by announcing the acquisition of a strategic 30% stake in Pollini Group. This investment reflects a clear ambition: to help build a more efficient, transparent, and circular ELV market.
By combining their expertise, the two companies aim to accelerate the industrialization of automotive dismantling activities in Italy while developing a nationwide network capable of serving all vehicle manufacturers operating in the market. The partnership also seeks to harmonize operational standards, improve material traceability, and enhance the environmental performance of the sector, particularly in anticipation of the growing number of electric vehicles reaching end-of-life.
Victoria Guérendel
Strategy & Innovation Project Manager, The Future is NEUTRAL
“This investment marks a major milestone in our European strategy. By partnering with Pollini Group, The Future is NEUTRAL strengthens its ability to structure the end-of-life vehicle sector in Italy and support the entire automotive industry in transitioning toward more circular, efficient, and sustainable business models.”
A Growth and Synergy Lever at the European Level
The integration of Pollini Group fully aligns with The Future is NEUTRAL’s growth strategy. It will strengthen synergies across the company’s various activities, including ELV treatment, parts reuse, and materials recycling.
The partnership also paves the way for greater industrial scale, with ambitions to expand processing capacities, optimize logistics flows, and deploy common standards across Europe. At the same time, the development of an affiliate network in Italy will broaden territorial coverage and provide a consistent, high-performance solution for all market stakeholders.
A Clear Ambition for 2030
Through this acquisition, The Future is NEUTRAL reaffirms its ambition to become a leading player in the European automotive circular economy. The company aims to triple its revenue by 2030 through the expansion of its industrial infrastructure and the development of integrated networks at both national and European levels.
Already firmly established in France through INDRA AUTOMOBILE RECYCLING, The Future is NEUTRAL continues its European expansion to support manufacturers, dealership networks, ELV treatment centers, and insurance companies in managing end-of-life vehicles more efficiently and sustainably. The integration of Pollini Group is a key step in strengthening this ecosystem.
Significant synergies are expected across the group’s activities, including the sharing of operational best practices and ELV recovery expertise with INDRA, enhanced material sourcing capabilities through THE REMAKERS, increased parts availability and inventory optimization with OPISTO, and greater pooling and valorization of recycled materials through GAIA.
At a time when the sector is undergoing profound change, driven by increasing regulatory requirements and major environmental challenges, this strategy aims to build a robust, scalable, and sustainable industrial model across Europe—one that is capable of meeting the challenges of tomorrow.
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