Automobile parts recycling

In Germany, the ERCOM shredder system was developped to recycle SMC automobile parts for reuse in existing SMC production lines. 

Plastics make up only about 8 percent of the volume in the average landfill but represent a huge investment of energy and raw materials. Most plastics produced from petroleum materials by polymerization of monomers such as ethylene or vinyl chloride are thermoplastic materials and can be cleaned, melted, and re-formed. Thermosetting plastics can also be cut into pieces that are mixed with other plastics or used as fillers. High-density polyethylene (HDPE) and polyethylene terephthalate (PETE) are the most widely reused plastic materials, but polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polypropylene, and polystyrene account for 5 percent of the recycled plastics. In 2001 80 million pounds (36 milfion kilograms) of plastics were recycled in the United States. Recycled plastic materials are used in the production of bottles, fabrics, flowerpots, furniture, plastic lumber, injection molded crates, and automobile parts. 

The logistical problems can be assessed from Figure 0.4, which shows the diversity of polymers used today in the BMW S Series. This is a typical example. It is not just that there are sixteen polymers specified but that within each chemical species—for different automotive components—there will be plastics of different relative molecular mass specified for optimum performance. Note also that at 7.4% we have mixed pofymer alloys PBT with added PC, and PC with added PBT. How is the operator stripping the plastic from a scrap BMW 5 to know whidi is which One proposal to assist the stripping is to standardize potymeric types for automobile parts. This will assist the dismantling, but from a Actional point of view it k a weak proposal, since it will retard initiative in design. And in any event, the mechanically recycled scrap is not only inferior in properties to virgin material but also more eiqiensive. 

Recycling of nylon 6 is not limited to carpets and automobile parts. Toray, a Japanese company, in 1995 began recycling apparel made from nylon 6 by depolymerization and repolymerization.Used U.S. Postal Service nylon mailbags which are not repairable, are being recycled into pellets used for, among other applications, automobile parts. 1 ... 

Furthermore, crosslinking removes any possibility of reusing the polymer, which will neither dissolve, nor flow. They are thus impossible to recycle. Another means of crosslinking, called physical crosslinking, was therefore developed to avoid some of these problems. The result is thermoplastic elastomers, which are more and more often found in automobile parts, sports shoes, and many other applications. 

Besides all the gaseous and liquid wastes of transportation that result from energy use, and the loss of natural environment to roadv ays, there is also the solid-waste problem of disposal— vehicles and components such as tires and batteries. Responding to the growing disposal problem, many manufacturers are building automobiles that contain far more recyclable parts. 

Recycling is the process of collecting waste, sorting it, and reclaiming raw materials that can be sold to produce products. From our household waste, glass and metals have been recycled for decades in many parts of the United States. Automobiles have been extensively recycled in North America for many years. Approximately 75% of the mass of an average scrap car is recycled. Clearly this is a profitable business with an extensive infrastruc-... 

Use 10-60 times, then remake into a different object with a long life (polycarbonate milk bottle recycled into a part for an automobile). 

The unwanted automobile is collected by the scrap dealer, partially disassembled by a recycler (e.g., lead battery, aluminum rims, radiator, variety of parts), and is then reduced in size by a shredder. Steel and nonferrous metals are sent to secondary smelting plants, while nonmetallic components are further processed. The lead battery... 

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