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Approximately 20 percent by weight of each end of life automobile ends up in a waste stream known as shredder residue (SR) that goes to disposal into a land fill. When an automobile reaches the end of its useful life it enters a complex infrastructure designed to recover usable parts and materials of value, primarily the ferrous and non-ferrous metals. The remaining material, a mixture of glass, rubber, plastics and foam becomes part of SR. Based on earlier research, a new recycling process has been identified that can convert the organic material in this waste stream into a fuel oil. The Thermal Conversion Process (TCP) developed by Changing World Technologies (CWT) may make it possible to convert SR into useful products. The Vehicle Recycling Partnership (VRP) and its partners are investigating the capability of the TCP to process SR.

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.

Tons of shredder residue (SR), a complex mixture of plastics, foams, rubber, metals, and glass, are generated each year as a by-product from the recycling of obsolete vehicles. The Vehicle Recycling Partnership (VRP), along with our CRADA partners, is investigating ways to enable the optimum recovery and recycling of these materials. This study investigates the feasibility of recycling (PU) foam using a new chemical process by glycolysing [1, 2] two types of polyurethane (PU) foams, “dirty” and “clean”, which were recovered from SR via an industrial scale process specifically designed to separate PU foams from SR [3, 4]. In stage one of this process, the polyurethane foam is subjected to glycolysis, followed by filtration of the liquid glycolyzed product. In stage two, the glycolyzed products are used as initiators in reaction with propylene oxide to prepare novel polyurethane polyols.

Shredder residue is a complex mix of many different materials that includes plastics, rubber, polyurethane (PU) foams, glass, metals and other materials such as rocks and dirt. The metal recyclers create this shredder residue mix as part of a recycling process to recover metals. The actual input stream for metal recycling is end-of-life automobiles, white goods and a variety of other metal-intensive parts including industrial scrap waste. This shredder residue is currently landfilled, and the European Union has implemented laws to reduce the amount of shredder residue from automobiles that can go into landfills. The Vehicle Recycling Partnership (VRP) is working with different collaborators to evaluate different technologies, including automated plastic recovery, as a means to reduce the amount of plastics that go to landfill in shredder residue.