Search Results

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.

The American Plastics Council (APC), working with the automotive industry, is leading the plastics industry in a groundbreaking effort to expand the future use of plastics in passenger vehicles. As part of this effort, APC has developed Plastics in Automotive Markets Vision and Technology Roadmap. This document is based in large part on a workshop held in May 2000 in Dearborn, Michigan, which was attended by representatives of plastics producers, OEMs, Tier suppliers, academia and government. The workshop was a collaborative effort with the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Transportation Technologies. During the workshop, participants identified many of the critical technologies needed to expand markets for automotive plastics.

Research, development, and demonstration of environmentally and economically responsible and sustainable recovery options for plastics from end-of-life vehicles (ELVs) is an active area of study. The plastics industry has been researching a variety of mechanical recycling, feedstock recycling, energy/fuel recovery, and reuse options for post-use automotive plastics. This paper reports on recent commercial experience and test programs using automotive shredder residue (ASR) containing post-use automotive plastics as an environmentally sound energy source in modern waste-to-energy plants. Commercial experience in Europe, especially Germany and Switzerland, is highlighted. A major test program cosponsored by the Association of Plastics Manufacturers in Europe (APME) and the American Plastics Council (APC) has recently demonstrated that co-firing ASR with municipal solid waste (MSW) can be carried out in compliance with strict German air emissions and ash management regulations.