Industry Group Promotes the Growing Recyclability of Cars
01/15/2008 - U.S. automakers are bringing an educational message to consumers at this year's North American International Auto Show through the United States Council for Automotive Research LLC's Vehicle Recycling Partnership LLC.
In addition to wowing the public with their newest products and concept cars, U.S. automakers are bringing an educational message to consumers at this year's North American International Auto Show through the United States Council for Automotive Research LLC's (USCAR) Vehicle Recycling Partnership LLC (VRP).
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Did you know that in the U.S....
· End-of-life vehicles are the most recycled consumer product, both in terms of percentage and volume.
· More than 95% of all end-of-life vehicles go through a market-driven recycling infrastructure with no added costs or taxes to consumers.
· More than 84%, by weight, of each end-of-life vehicle is recycled.
· Materials processed from end-of-life vehicles go back into making new cars, roads, buildings, consumer products, and more.
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"Most people don't know these statistics and they're usually surprised when they find out that 95% of end-of-life vehicles in the U.S. go through some form of recycling process," said Claudia Duranceau, Ford senior research recycling engineer for Emissions Control and Recycling and VRP representative.
Sustainable Recycling Solutions—"We're here to create public awareness of the collaborative efforts among the three U.S. automakers to implement sustainable recycling solutions that keep waste out of landfills, save energy and put materials into reuse," said Duranceau.
Today, more of the materials recovered from recycled vehicles are reused to make new cars. Materials recycled from cars are also used to make other products, including building materials and such home products as carpet, resilient flooring, and patio furniture.
"That's the unique part about this exhibit; it shows how all these materials are reused," said Candace Wheeler, General Motors technical fellow and VRP representative. "People have no idea what happens to end-of-life vehicles. Most think they're sold off to Third World countries or just fall off the face of the earth."
Bolstering Recyclability—VRP achievements include developing material selection and design guidelines to optimize vehicle recyclability, and partnering with the domestic vehicle-dismantling industry to improve the safety and efficiency of vehicle disassembly and materials recovery. In 1994, the VRP opened the Vehicle Recycling Development Center, where more than 500 vehicles were dismantled to study the dismantling process and develop new ways improve vehicle recyclability. The VRP also has created training programs on the safe handling of airbags and hybrid batteries in the recycling process.
According to Wheeler, the VRP has steadily increased the amount of materials recovered during the vehicle recycling process, currently averaging around 84% of the vehicle by weight. The group aims to continue improving that percentage by developing new processes that further support the domestic automotive dismantling and material recycling industries. For example, the VRP has partnered with public-sector research institutions and private entities to optimize the parts-recycling processes at dismantlers across the country, and continues to improve the materials-reclamation process when leftover hulks are shredded. That shredding process reclaims metal materials from roughly 12 to 15 million vehicles, yielding between 15 and 19 million tons of recycled steel alone each year.
Non-Metallic Recycling—Recent advances jointly developed through the VRP are now enhancing processes to reclaim a higher percentage of the shredding process 'leftovers'—more commonly known as shredder residue—which includes plastics, glass, seat foams, carpet fibers, and rubber.
As part of a formal Collaborative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA), scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory, the Plastics Division of the American Chemistry Council, and the VRP, continue to lead the development of innovative processes to improve the quantity and quality of materials reclaimed from shredder residue.
"Helping the recycling industry better understand the economics of recycling and setting goals and processes to commercialize the collecting and recycling of non-metallic materials have been an important focus in recent years to close that remaining 16% gap of what is recycled and what is not," said Nakia Simon, Chrysler product engineer and VRP representative.
Founded in 1992, the United States Council for Automotive Research (USCAR) LLC is the umbrella organization for collaborative research among Chrysler, Ford, and General Motors. USCAR’s goal is to further strengthen the technology base of the domestic auto industry through cooperative research and development.
The Vehicle Recycling Partnership LLC, one of the programs managed through USCAR, addresses shared technological and environmental concerns related to sustainable and environmentally friendly vehicle recycling practices.
