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Each year approximately 12 million automobiles reach the end of their useful life and enter a complex infrastructure designed to recover usable parts and materials of value (primarily the ferrous and nonferrous metals). The remaining material, a mixture of glass, rubber, plastics, foam, and dirt, is referred to as shredder residue (SR) and is currently sent to landfills for disposal. However, a new Thermal Conversion Process (TCP) developed by Changing World Technologies may make it possible to convert this waste into a light hydrocarbon oil. TCP is a new technology under investigation by the Vehicle Recycling Partnership (VRP) and its partners. This process converts hydrocarbons and other organic materials into marketable oils and specialty chemicals for potential industrial and commercial use. Early research has demonstrated the ability to take SR and convert it into a light hydrocarbon oil, fuel gas, and carbon.

In previous projects, the Vehicle Recycling Partnership (VRP) and Salyp N.V. have demonstrated the ability to separate plastics, foams, ferrous metals, and non-ferrous metals from shredder residue using the Salyp recovery process. Salyp's recovery process consists of a number of different stages, which are discussed in a previous SAE paper by the VRP and Salyp1. These include a sized-based material separation, a foam cleaning system, additional material separation based on material type, etc. However, during the previous project, the potential impact of the process on the environment via air emissions, waste emissions, or in terms of energy consumption were not determined. Understanding the overall environmental impact of this recycling process is important. Therefore, the VRP concluded that a life cycle approach was necessary to investigate the energy and specific environmental impacts of this technology.