MUNDOMATERIAL » recycling

ELV directive or car recycling

admin — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 13:57:51 +0000

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!)

Europe, waste and legislation

admin — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 14:04:03 +0000

Introduction

A bit lost about the legal status of your rubbish? Believe me, you are not alone! The European Union has many different directives legislating the “waste” issue. The European Union presents the waste management issue like this at http://europa.eu:

Every year, some 2 billion tonnes of waste – including particularly hazardous waste – are produced in the Member States, and this figure is rising steadily. Stockpiling waste is not a viable solution and destroying it is unsatisfactory due to the resulting emissions and highly concentrated, polluting residues. The best solution is, as always, to prevent the production of such waste, reintroducing it into the product cycle by recycling its components where there are ecologically and economically viable methods of doing so.

If you want to know about waste and European legislation, you have to visit this link: Europe waste management, it definetely is where you should start. The mother of all waste directives, the one that sets the legal framework for all of them is Directive 2006/12/EC. If you are unfamiliar with directives, I’ll tell you that the first 4 digits is the year of approval (2006 in this case, so quite recent). The EC means it was approved by the European Commission. I don’t know about the 12 though. Ideas? If you have the title of the directive and want to find the text on the web, just googled it. It always works for me.

Directive 2006/12/EC aims to reduce waste production in Europe. It was also approved to promote recycling and reduce disposal in landfill. Between these two options we have incineration with energy recovery, cheaper than recycling and less damaging than disposal. No material is obtained from incineration, obviously, so it does not limit our consumption of raw materials as recycling.

All waste is classified into 4 main categories, which are then managed by different directives:

hazardous waste: Council Directive 91/689/EEC
waste from specific activities, like ship dismantling, mining or titanium dioxide
radioactive waste and substances
waste from consumer goods

I’m going to focus on the last point, waste from consumer goods, as it includes wastestreams that are very common. These are the categories of waste included under consumer goods:

packaging and packaging waste: directive 2004/12/EC
PCBs and PCTs: council directive 96/59/EC
batteries and accumulators: directive 2006/66/EC
waste oil: council directive 75/439/EEC
end-of-life vehicles, ELV: directive 2000/53/EC
waste electrical and electronic equipment, WEE: directive 2002/96/EC

PCBs and PCTs need a directive on their own, since they represent a hazard for health and environment. They were widely used as coolants in fridges that now accumulate on our landfills while we try to get rid of them safely. The council directive 96/59/EC sets guidelines on how to do so.

Similarly, the European commission fixed a threshold on the content of mercury or cadmium in batteries and accumulators in Directive 2006/66/EC, while encouraging recycling and safe disposal of those already in the market. Amongst this group of special wastes is oil, which is managed by council Directive 75/439/EEC.

If you want to know more about waste of electrical and electronic equipment, you can read my post about directive 2002/96/EC and how it relates to RoHS and REACH. I will soon deal with the packaging and ELV directive in separate posts, as they have a direct impact on plastics.

Very important jargon

Now, to understand the requirements of the waste directives in general, you have to know well your jargon, what they mean by all those terms, so here is a handy list:

collection: a wastestream has to be collected separately from others and stored safely until treated. Collection systems have been created throughout Europe to collect the most diverse things, from batteries to cars. Collecting and storing is in itself a business. New directives put the responsibility onto manufacturers to manage and fund collection.
re-use: a product or parts of it are reused without chemical or physical treatment. This is the best option for waste, but it’s difficult to asses how much of are waste is actually reused. Private initiatives are very strong at promoting reuse, like NGOs that donate mobiles or computers to developing countries, giving them a new life while helping.
recycling: recovering materials from waste and treat them so they can be used again in the production chain. The most common form of recycling is physical recycling, where no chemical treatment is applied. There are still ongoing arguments to decide if chemical recycling of plastics (where plastics are returned to monomers, which can then be used again to manufacture plastics) is considered as recycling. When the European Union sets a recycling target, usually a weight percentage, reuse items count towards it, as it remains the optimal solution.
Incineration with energy recovery: Waste that is not recycled or reused can only go two ways, it either ends up in landfill or it burns. If it is going to be incinerated, we may as well take something back from it, so energy produced is recovered. Advantages of this method: is cheap. No need to sort the waste and right now it should be safe, or at least the technology exists to make incinerators safe. Disadvantages: no material is recovered, so new one has to be produced.
recovery: basically, anything that doesn’t go to landfill is recovered. Recovery targets can be reached by recycling, reusing and incinerating with energy recovery.
landfill: well, waste that ends up in landfills or even worts in uncontrolled, illegal wastelands. By far the worst option.

Conclusion

Directives related with consumer goods tend to have differentiated targets for recycling and recovering, avoiding the massive use of incineration. Up to now most of the recycling targets in consumer goods were reached just by recycling metal, which remains the most profitable recyclate. More stringent targets in the recycling of cars and electronics will force plastics and other materials to be recycled. This is demonstrating a strong force in the development of new recycling technology through Europe, a subject that I promised you deserves at least a whole post. So do the ELV and packaging directive.

Sources and links:

European Union

Europe waste management

waste directive: Directive 2006/12/EC

hazardous waste: 91/689/EEC

batteries and accumulators: directive 2006/66/EC

PCBs and PCTs: council directive 96/59/EC

waste oil: council Directive 75/439/EEC

WEEE: directive 2002/96/EC

ELV: directive 2000/53/EC

packaging: directive 2004/12/EC

WEEE and RoHS: How they affected plastics in electronics?

admin — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 17:31:06 +0000

Introduction

Today I will discuss how the electronics market is changing its approach to sustainability, forced mainly by legislation. When talking about electronics, many products are included: mobiles, computers, DVD and CD players, etc.

A 2007 report of the UN University estimated that the amount of new electrical and electronic equipment, EEE, put in 2005 in the EU27 market was 10.3 million tonnes. The waste generated by electronic and electrical equipment, WEEE, in 2005 was lower, between 8.3 and 9.1 million tonnes. The same report also forecasts that in 2020, WEEE will reach 12.3 million tonnes.

The volume of electronic waste generated by Europe and the concerns raised by how this waste is treated have lead, among other factors, to three European directives: WEEE, RoHS and REACH. By concerns about how WEEE is treated in developing countries, see the links under Others, at the bottom of the post.

WEEE directive, Waste electrical and electronic equipment, 2002/96/EC

This directive sets collection, recycling and recovery targets for all types of electrical and electronic goods. Thanks to the WEEE directive, producers of EEE are responsible for their products, even when they are retired from the market. Most producers have decided to join National compliance schemes, which are non profit organisations that manage WEEE for a fee. Others have instead join industry groups, like ERP recycling. These manage their own waste and therefore should be rewarded in the long term, as they are more active in implementing design changes that ease recycling.

RoHS directive, Restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electronic equipment, 2002/95/EC

The European Community is well aware that products consumed in Europe end up in other countries, like China and India, where recycling conditions are not properly legislated. The toxic content present in most electronics is recycled by unprotected workers that poison themselves. This, and of course concern for the health of European users too, was the driving force behind the RoHS directive. It reduces the use of six hazardous materials:

Lead
Mercury
Cadmium
Hexavalent Chromium
Polybrominated biphenyls, PBB
Polybrominated diphenyls, PBDE

Substitution of these substances has lead to the development of new technologies, creating a competitive climate in the European industry. It has to be said that both directives also affects non-European OEMs if their products end up here.

REACH Regulation, Registration, evaluation, authorisation and restriction of chemical substances, EC 1907/2006

REACH makes manufacturers and importers of chemical substances responsible for gathering information on the products they place in the market and registering it in a central database.

Something quite funny happens to me when I explain REACH. If I’m talking to family and friends, the general answer is: “What do you mean they have to test the chemicals’ safety? Is it not already done?” Obviously, when the discussion is at work with industry participants the answer is: “Oh my God! Do you realise how much is going to cost us? It’s going to kill small companies”. Both answers are logical, but I rather be on the safe side and have chemicals tested. Is not like we didn’t get it wrong many, many times before! It is however a huge effort to industry. For this reason REACH will be introduced in phases during 11 years.

Sustainable design

Before electronics become waste, even before they are put into the market, loads can be done to decrease their negative impact on health and environment. The first thing to do, of course, is to be compliant with both RoHS and WEEE directives. This means that substances covered by RoHS have to be phased out. Just the changes in soldering material and techniques involved in phasing out lead deserve a post of their own!

Some of the other points that designers have to keep in mind when designing a new, more sustainable electronic product are:

reducing energy consumption
weight reduction
reduction of packaging use/impact
clear labelling of materials, specially toxic ones
plastic parts over 25 gr must be labelled
reduction of materials’ variety
easy to dismantle products, achieved by avoiding small pieces or by using only one type of screw
eliminating coatings not compatible with recycling, like paintings or labels
increasing recyclable content and the number of reusable parts, so that it is profitable to recycle it
extending product life, which can be done by using modular design or making a stronger product

Most of the points from the list above are pretty obvious and self explanatory. They aren’t new and OEMs have know about them for a long while. Only now, when they have become responsible for the recycling of their own products, some have truly started to apply them.

Plastics in electronics

Electronic and electrical equipment, EEE, represents 6% of plastic usage in Europe per volume, according to PlasticsEurope’s 2007 Annual report. The average plastic content in WEEE is about 30%, although this percentage is expected to grow as newer products are disposed of. The most common plastics used in electronics are thermoplastics like PS, PP, ABS or PC. Although many others are used, the variety of plastics in EEE is relatively small if compared with other plastic applications, like packaging.

The WEEE directive sets the following targets, in weight percentage, for IT, telecommunications and consumer equipment:

65%: Reuse and/or recycling, including chemical and mechanical
75%: Recovery, including recycling and incineration with energy recovery

This means that plastic must be recycled or recovered, at least partially, to reach the set targets. Thermoplastics used in EEE tend to have higher value than PE or PET and therefore recycling should be more profitable than on packaging. The smaller pieces obtained when dismantling the product, means that it is more expensive than recycling a car. On the other hand recyclers dealing with WEEE at the moment need to be able to remove the toxic substances banned by RoHS or their recyclates won’t themselves comply with RoHS.

With almost 3 million tonnes of plastic being used in EEE in Europe, the industry has been forced to rapidly adapt to the new needs brought about by the legislation. Those companies that have developed RoHS compliant technologies have now a competitive edge, as EEE producers need to switch their materials. One of the most competitive areas is the phasing out of brominated flame retardants, with the following producers now supplying RoHS compliant alternatives to them (source: Danish Ministry of Environment, 2006):

Ciba Specialty Chemicals
Clariant
Italmatch Chemicals
Martinswerk
Nabaltec
Supresta

Of course, plastic producers are now offering RoHS compliant plastics and compounders already supply the electronic market with PBB and PBDE-free compounds. And brominated flame retardants are just one of the many changes that the WEEE and RoHS directives have introduced in the market. Legislative changes so demanding with industry tend to lead to a power shift, with companies adapting at different rates.

The subject is truly wide, with many technologies we could analyse. If you have any preference, please let me know, I’m always happy to research your ideas. I will try to make one post about recycled plastics as soon as possible. In the meantime, go browse the web with all the links provided below.