Ever wonder what happens to your car or truck when it becomes totaled in an accident, worn out, useless, kaput?
Up to 15 million cars reach their end of life in the U.S each year. There’s a lot of valuable stuff in these end-of-life vehicles (ELVs).
What Happens to End-of-life Vehicles?
Here’s what typically happens to your ELV:
- Fluids are removed and recycled.
- High value parts (e.g., catalytic converters, engine blocks) are removed/reused/disassembled/sold.
- Parts are picked off by individuals and body shops for re-sale or repair.
- Then it’s crushed and shredded, separating recyclable metals from the remainder.
This remainder is called automotive shredder residue (ASR). This ASR makes up 20-25% of the ELV weight, consisting of rubber, glass, textiles, electronics, leather and many other materials. Including dirt.
Plus, a growing amount of plastic.
What happens to this ASR? It goes to landfill.
(FYI: ASR also includes non-automotive durable products that may be shredded at the same time: e.g., metal pipes, furniture, electronics, etc.)
Car Makers Increase Use of Plastic
For decades, carmakers have been increasing use of tough, lightweight plastic and plastic composite materials in their cars and trucks. That’s great for sustainability (greater fuel efficiency and fewer emissions) and occupant safety (think seatbelts, airbags, bumpers, crush zones).
(BTW: Electric vehicles use significantly more plastic than internal combustion engine vehicles. Lighter weight plastic enables greater range, among other benefits.)
But what happens to that ASR with its ELV plastic? Most of it heads to landfills. Which is why car makers are becoming increasingly focused on recovering this valuable ELV plastic for recycling.
Increasing Recycling of Plastic in Our Cars and Trucks
To help stimulate progress in recovering ELV plastic, U.S. plastic makers teamed up with Oak Ridge National Laboratories (ORNL) based in Oak Ridge, TN. ORNL bills itself as “the world’s premier research institute” that “delivers scientific discoveries and technical breakthroughs needed to realize solutions in energy and national security and provide economic benefit to the nation.”
Plastic makers and ORNL kicked off their collaboration back in 2022 by inviting car makers, academicians, recyclers, investors, and others to a workshop to brainstorm ideas on how to improve “circularity” for unrecycled ELV plastic. (Circularity is a simple way of saying: Don’t throw it out, keep reusing it.)
In the summer of 2024, a larger group of players in the auto “value chain” met at yet another ORNL workshop to put some meat on the bones. They identified steps needed to overcome obstacles to recycling and ways to scale up circular solutions for ELV plastic.
They’re trying to answer the question:
Can we recycle plastic from our cars and trucks?
Solutions to Plastic Circularity in Cars and Trucks
Based on the Report issued from that 2024 summer get-together, the answer appears to be: Yes. The group reported multiple opportunities to develop solutions to ELV plastic circularity. For example:
- “Federal policies in the U.S. could offer economic incentives for the use of recycled content of plastic specifically recovered from ELVs in new vehicle designs, which would increase their demand.” (The federal plastic recycling bill could help.)
- “[Car makers] could begin designing vehicles for recyclability at end-of-life, including adopting principles that simplify disassembly, sorting, and recycling at the end-of-life of the vehicle.”
- “Improve sorting and separation techniques to efficiently process complex materials like composites and multi-layer plastics, helping to ensure recycled ELV plastics can meet both quantity and quality demands.”
Collaboration Needed to Increase Plastic Circularity
And the biggest overall need? Collaboration. As the Report noted:
“Overcoming the complexity and technical challenges of automotive plastics recycling will require a concerted and collaborative effort across the entire supply chain, including research and development, chemical and plastics suppliers, design and assembly practices [car makers], [components] suppliers, and… material recyclers.”
“Opportunities for improved sustainability and efficiency through R&D exist at every step. For example, automated disassembly may significantly improve efficiency at ELV recyclers, while high-rate multi-material separation technologies could address the complexity of the ASR stream.”
“The automotive metals shredding and disassembly industries are widespread, with key players operating across nearly all 50 states. This established network presents a unique opportunity for unified action to scale up plastic recycling solutions.”
Building Collaboration Momentum
To build momentum, plastic makers and ORNL plan to ratchet up the cadence of these workshops, which should enable even greater collaboration. Because gathering the entire value chain in one room has tremendous value.
“The… 2024 workshop is poised to be a pivotal step in this process, bringing together researchers and industry stakeholders to drive innovation and accelerate the adoption of effective recycling practices for automotive plastics.”
“The insights discussed during the… 2024 workshop provide great ideas for moving forward, but success will require the collective effort of all stakeholders involved.”
Indeed.
And this collaboration will help inform similar circularity efforts in other industries that use plastic and composites, such as aerospace, wind and solar energy, boating, sports equipment, and more.
We’ll issue updates as we progress. Follow us. And wish us success.
Read the Report here.
