This article aims at presenting how eco-design practices in Europe are promoting the diffusion of vehicles recyclability worldwide. Even developing countries like Brazil are fostering recycling activities through vehicles production and consumption encompassing ELV Directive 2000/53/EC. In this sense, we stated and demonstrated that the environmentally conscious designing practices of the European automotive sector are bringing good results to the Brazilian manufacturing and recycling materials sectors. Besides, since the early nineties, after Rio-92 World Summit on Environment, issues such as pollution prevention, waste minimization,materials recovery and end-of-life components, and products recycling have become a subject of great interest for government policies and environmental legislation in Brazil. This paper is based on a one-year research on ecodesign and materials recycling conducted in France in 2004/2005 by Heloisa de Medina, and it is also connected to a research program on product development management for recycling (PROCICLE) in Brazil in which both authors have been involved since 2002.