source: www.freefoto.com
I have already discussed the WEEE directive, dealing with waste of electronic and electrical equipment, in my post on WEEE and RoHS. Today I shall talk about another waste directive, the one dealing with vehicles, commonly known as the ELV directive, or directive 2000/53/EC. Similarly to the WEEE directive, the ELV directive promotes waste reduction, sets progressive recovery and recycling targets and puts responsibility on vehicles producers. These are the recycling and recovering targets set for 2006 and 2015:
- 2006: 85% of reuse and recovery and 80% of reuse and recycling
- 2015: 95% of reuse and recovery and 85% of reuse and recycling
The unusually high targets were not chose at random. Before the introduction of the directive around 75% weight of a car was already being recycled, as the metal content is over 80%. This percentage tends to diminish in new cars, as more plastic alternatives are used. By increasing the percentage that needs to be recycled, the directive forces recyclers to treat other materials than metal.
The ELV directive, directive 2000/53/EC, is similar in its approach to the WEEE directive. It touches almost every aspect of the vehicle’s life and disposal. It places the responsability of waste upon the manufacturers, so it is their obligation to take the necessary steps to reduce waste production and finance collection systems. To this end they must reduce the use of hazardous substances and since 2003 vehicles must not contain mercury, hexavalent chromium, cadmium or lead. As for recycling, manufacturers must consider it right from the designing stage, as the directive dictates that dismantling, re-use, recovery and recycling must be facilitated. Basically, anything but ending up in landfill.
Before recycling a car, any hazardous waste must be removed to be treated separately. Car manufacturers must provide recyclers with appropriate instructions to do so. Treatment operations for depollution of end-of-life vehicles, as covered in the ELV directive, are as follows:
- removal of batteries and liquified gas tanks
- removal or neutralisation of potential explosive components, (e.g. air bags)
- removal and separate collection and storage of fuel, motor oil, transmission oil, gearbox oil, hydraulic oil, cooling liquids, antifreeze, brake fluids, air-conditioning system fluids and any other fluid contained in the end-of-life vehicle, unless they are necessary for the re-use of the parts concerned
- removal, as far as feasible, of all components identified as containing mercury
Up to now the vehicle was simply shredded after these operations. But the ELV directive also proposes another set of treatment operations to facilitate the recycling of other materials and components:
- removal of catalysts
- removal of metal components containing copper, aluminium and magnesium if these metals are not segregated in the shredding process
- removal of tyres and large plastic components (bumpers, dashboard, fluid containers, etc)
- removal of glass.
Plastics can be shredded with the metal parts and then segregated, or more accurately, both things at the same time, avoiding the need to remove the parts, which is always the most time consuming and therefore expensive step. The recycling of plastics becomes more cost competitive as newer cars have bigger plastic parts that are easily recovered, obtaining more weight with less effort. The automotive sector represents 8% of the plastics market, i.e. almost 4 million tonnes in 2006 according to PlasticsEurope. Sadly, that same year not even 10% of the plastic found in cars was recycled. This low percentage is even more poignant as vehicles are one of the few wastes that have had a working collecting system for years.
Anyone directly involved with recycling knows that finding a market for recycled materials can be the most difficult part of the business. This is the main reason, together with solvable technological problems, for the low recycling rates of plastic in vehicles. There would be more recycling when it becomes truly profitable, of that I’m sure. This is why the directive asks manufacturers to increase the amounts of recycled materials used in their cars, to create a demand for recyclates.
It would be great to hear from those of you that recycle cars, so that we could have first hand information on the business. In the meantime, try having a good look at your car and you will realise how much of it is not metal anymore (including the engine!)
