Representatives from Argonne National Laboratory, USCAR and the Big Three Automakers held a press conference Thursday, Nov. 10, to highlight the recycling rate for automobiles in the United States in recognition of America Recycles Day Nov. 15.
Bill Gouse of the U.S. Council for Automotive Research (USCAR), nearly 95 percent of automobiles are recovered for recycling in the United States at the end of their useful lives, and nearly 80 percent by weight of each vehicle can be recycled into new products.
USCAR is an umbrella organization formed by General Motors, Ford and Daimler Chrysler in 1992 to perform cooperative research into automotive technology. In partnership with Argonne National Laboratory, one of the U.S. Department of Energy’s largest research centers, the APC, the U.S. Department of Energy and the Vehicle Recycling Partnership (VRP), USCAR is researching ways to grow the already successful vehicle recycling infrastructure.
VRP has had formal collaboration agreements with the Aluminum Association, the APC, the Automobile Recyclers Association and the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries Inc. that have resulted in the publication of preferred vehicle recycling practices, establishment of USCAR Substances of Concern task forces and research into separation technology for commingled material streams, according to Dave Mattis, VRP chair and GM representative to the VRP.
Auto shredder residue (ASR), or what remains following vehicle shredding and metals separation, consists largely of polymers used in the vehicles, such as polypropylene, ABS, polyethylene, nylon and PVC, Mattis said. Much of the research conducted by Argonne and VRP delves into separation technology for ASR, as the plastics cannot be recycled when they are commingled.
Claudia Duranceau, the Ford representative to the VRP, says the group established a “Recycle Roadmap” to provide direction to the Department of Energy’s program. It consists of a five-year research and development plan that uses a market-based approach that fits in with current methods being used. The Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) involves government and industry and seeks to “maximize sustainable recovery and recycling of current and future automotive materials,” Duranceau said.
The current CRADA, which was initiated in August of 2003, is researching life cycle analysis and examining the total environmental impact of the materials used in vehicle manufacturing, which includes advanced materials like polymers. She also said that the current CRADA is researching “substances of concern,” or materials found in the ASR that may hinder the further recycling of automobiles.
“It makes sense to leverage our research dollars and work toward a cooperative solution,” Duranceau said of the VRP.
She added that the technical challenge involved in recycling is “to minimize the environmental impact of new materials and technologies in vehicles. Ultimately, any new technology developed in response to these changes must have minimal risk.” Doing so means relying on proven markets, minimizing regulatory barriers and costs and using the current well-established recycling infrastructure, Duranceau said.
Argonne’s Energy Systems Division Director Ed Daniels said that the organizing theme around the current CRADA is to address the recycling of the lightweighting materials used in today’s vehicles. Currently, the options for recycling the balance of automotive materials includes the separation and recovery of materials for recycling, the conversion to fuels and chemicals through gasification, pyrolysis and glycolysis and energy recover, Daniels said.
He added that mold trials have confirmed the feasibility of reusing polymers recovered from vehicles to produce steering column covers, battery trays and knee bolsters.