The Road to Better Auto Recycling - America's Plastic Makers
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The Road to Better Auto Recycling

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What happens to your car when it reaches the end of the road? A lot more than you might think. 

In this episode of Sustainably Speaking, host Mia Quinn sits down with Mark Bacchus of Toyota Motor North America and Derick Corbett of Pull-A-Part to follow a vehicle through the automotive recycling process—from removing fluids and reusing parts to recovering more plastics. 

Today, about 98% of a vehicle is recyclable—but that doesn’t mean 98% actually gets recycled. Making that happen requires automakers, dismantlers, recyclers and others across the value chain to work together in new ways. 

What You’ll Learn From Special Guests, Mark and Derick: 

  • What really happens to an end-of-life vehicle, from depollution and parts reuse to crushing and shredding. 
  • Why automotive plastics can be difficult to recover. A single component can contain multiple different plastics, each chosen for a specific job. 
  • How automakers are designing with recycling in mind, including simplifying materials and making components easier to separate at the end of a vehicle’s life. 
  • Why economics matter as much as technology. Recycling more material ultimately depends on creating enough value for each participant in the recycling chain to recover it. 

You’ll also discover just how complicated a seemingly simple car part can be: one exterior mirror can contain 15 different plastics, with each material delivering a different function. 

The takeaway? Building a more circular future for vehicles won’t come from one breakthrough. It will take thousands of better decisions—from how cars are designed to how their materials are recovered and reused at the end of the road. 

Press play for a behind-the-scenes look at what it will take to keep more automotive materials in use. 

Learn More About Automotive Plastics Recycling

Automakers and recyclers are working together to recover more plastics from end-of-life vehicles, design components for recyclability and build stronger markets for recycled automotive materials. Learn more about the innovations making that possible and the policies that can help scale automotive recycling in the U.S.

Explore Automotive Recycling Innovations

See how plastics support vehicle performance and how the auto industry is working to recover and reuse more of them at end of life.

Explore Automotive Innovations

Explore Automotive Recycling Policy

Learn about policies that can strengthen plastics recovery infrastructure, advance design for recyclability and support a more circular automotive supply chain.

View Our Policy Position

Guest Bios

  • Mark Bacchus, Chemical and Material Stewardship, Toyota Motor North America

    Mark Bacchus leads Toyota’s global efforts on substance and materials advocacy, working in the Chemical Management Office within the Carbon Neutrality and Regulatory Affairs Division in Washington, DC. He has been at Toyota for 26 years, working most of those years in the Materials Engineering Division developing textiles, plastics, and other materials. Mr. Bacchus hold a BS in Chemical Engineering from Florida State University.

  • Derick Corbett, Senior Vice President for External Affairs, Pull-A-Part

    Derick Corbett is the senior vice president of external affairs at Pull-A-Part, where he oversees all government and regulatory affairs, compliance, and community relations work for Pull-A-Part’s 37 facilities in the 16 states it serves. Upon graduating from the University of Georgia with degrees in political science and economics, Corbett began what would become a 20 year career in public service. Corbett served with Congressman John Linder from October 2000 to December 2010, holding various positions on his Congressional staff and campaign staff, including communications director, deputy chief of staff, and chief of staff. In 2010, he served as campaign manager for Rob Woodall and went on to become Congressman Woodall’s chief of staff and campaign manager until 2020. He currently serves as a board member for the Georgia Recycling Association, the State Recycling Association of Alabama, and the Recycling Association of North Carolina. Corbett also serves as Chairman of the Automotive Recycling Committee for the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, the largest international recycling trade association in the world. Corbett is a member of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce and serves on the Energy and Natural Resources and Government Affairs Committees.

  • Mia Quinn, Senior Director, Public Affairs at American Chemistry Council

    Mia Quinn leads efforts to communicate the plastics industry’s major sustainability initiatives. She works to bring together experts to share insights in key areas of sustainability, including public policy, product design, recycling, and infrastructure. She is passionate about collaboration, clear communication, and engaging audiences to learn more about innovation and modern solutions for our communities and our country. Mia has a degree in political science from Washington University in St. Louis. She grew up in the suburbs of Denver, Colorado and is a lifelong Denver Broncos fan. She lives in Northern Virginia with her husband and two sons.

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