Nissan Announces Plan to Use Shredder Residue

Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., will begin recycling used automotive shredder residue this fall at its Oppama Plant in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture. Nissan will rebuild part of its waste incinerator for the purpose. According to the company it marks the first time any carmaker has used existing incineration facilities at its own plant to process ASR.

The Automotive Recycling Law, which becomes effective in the latter half of 2004, will require carmakers to recycle ASR either on their own or through an outside recycling firm. According to Nissan, the company will continue to outsource ASR processing to an existing recycling company, but processing ASR at its own facilities will also allow Nissan to obtain data for study. 

Analysis of the data will be used to improve understanding of ASR processing, which could lead to reduced costs and better new vehicle design.

ASR consists primarily of plastic and rubber, and currently most of this residue ends up in landfills. Nissan experimented with ASR recycling from 1997 to 1999 using a direct molten furnace, resolving a number of the problems that arise in the shredder residue recycling process.

The technology and know-how to be adopted by Nissan could be applied at other waste incinerators, and the carmaker is working to share its expertise. Moreover, rebuilding existing facilities is expected to require just one-twentieth of the investment that building new ones would require. A patent has been filed for this technology.