The impacts of materials substitution on the recyclability of automobiles

Abstract

Abstract “Recyclability” signifies the relative technical ease of recovering materials from products which would otherwise enter the waste stream. It also embraces the value of and markets for the recovered products, the disposal of residuals, and the cost of the entire operation. The increasing use of polymers in motor vehicles has generated increased amounts of residuals for disposal. No profitable means of using them has yet been found. Simultaneously, the displacement of steel, which has a value as secondary material, by polymers has reduced the revenues from the processing of road vehicles for scrap. The economics of vehicles recycling, in terms of the balance between materials values and disposal costs, are moving towards financial unprofitability. There is an increasing need for the development of processes which will permit the mixed, contaminated non-metallic fraction from vehicle processing to be used for energy recovery, either through on-site incineration or by conversion to chemicals, or as a raw material in the manufacture of structural materials.