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Recycling of automotive headliners has been carried out by grinding them and forming composites with isocyanate-based binders. Rear-seat-to-back-window trim panels have been prepared. Composites with 80-90 wt.% of scrap manufactured in plant runs exhibited mechanical properties comparable to the existing products. The rear-seat-to-back-window trim panel composites were produced by compression molding ground scrap-binder pre-preg sheets for 30 seconds at moderate temperatures, with no postcuring. This is the best indication that the utilization of the scrap headliners is both technically and economically sound. The plant runs have confirmed the feasibility of production of large parts with relatively complex shapes such as headliners. The adhesion of decorative materials to the composite substrates was excellent. More importantly, the decorative materials can be applied to the substrate during compression molding without any additional adhesive.

Between 10- and 11-million scrap vehicles are being recycled each year in the United States by the automotive shredder industry. Presently, they are able to recover 95%of the ferrous and non-ferrous metals in an automobile, which translates to roughly 75% of the total car weight. However, up to 3-million tons of waste, commonly known as fluff or automotive shredder residue (ASR), are generated and landfilled by automotive shredders every year. In order to increase the efficiency of recovery of both ferrous and non-ferrous metals from the shredded vehicles, many new developments have been made in separation technology in the last few years. This paper describes recent developments in shredder downstream separation processes and recycling options for automotive shredder residue.