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The United States Council of Automotive Research (USCAR) under the Vehicle Recycling Partnership (VRP) along with our collaborators Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), American Plastic Council (APC) and the Association of Plastic Manufactures in Europe (APME) has been conducting research on automated recovery of plastics from shredder residue. A Belgium company Salyp NV located in Ypres, Belgium has been contracted by the VRP to demonstrate a recovery process that can separate several plastic types including polyurethane foam out of the shredder residue waste stream. One hundred metric tons of shredder residue was supplied from three different metal recycling companies (shredders) including a US metal recycler as well as two different European metal recyclers/shredders. This shredder residue was evaluated and processed by Salyp. This paper explains the separation processes along with processing efficiencies, material characterization, mass balances and the amount of plastics recovered.

A descriptive analysis of the Vehicle End-of-Life (VEOL) process in the U.S. is presented. The material recovery process and the reuse of parts are discussed. A computer VEOL model will be presented which would ultimately be used to analyze the impact of specific regulations, markets factors, and/or business policies, on the recyclability of materials and the reuse of parts. The computer model includes several stages of the VEOL process, including vehicle sales, usage, and retirement; also the dismantling of the retired vehicle, shredding operations, parts and vehicle rebuilders, maintenance and repair. An example of the use of the VEOL computer model on material substitution is presented.