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Recycling plastics from automotive shredder residues: a review

  • SPECIAL FEATURE: REVIEW
  • Chemical Feedstock Recycling 10
  • Published:
Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Automotive shredder residue (ASR) is an inevitable by-product of car recycling, i.e. removal of all liquids and hazardous or valuable components from the car and shredding of the hulk, followed by the recovery of steel, iron, and non-ferrous scrap. The European Union (EU) ELV Directive requires attaining higher recovery and recycling rates, resulting in a reduction of the amount of ASR going to landfill. The most plausible methods to achieve a considerable reduction of ASR are as follows: either recycling of separated materials and dismantled bulky parts, such as bumpers, dashboards, cushions, and front and rear windows, or else systematic sorting of the commingled and size-reduced materials, resulting from shredding. After a brief comparison of the actual situation in the EU, the USA, and Japan, the characteristics of actual ASR are reviewed, as well as some of the most prominent efforts made to separate and recycle specific fractions, such as polyolefins, ABS, or polyurethane. Attention is paid to some major players in the EU and to some of the pitfalls that besiege these ventures.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to the following persons, who helped improving this paper by their constructive comments or by providing additional information: Dr. C. Block (K.U.L.), Prof. C. Forsgren (Chalmers University; Stena Metall); Mr. R. Ishikawa (Ebara Co.), Dr. L. Jetten (DPI Value Centre), Mr. F. Nijkerk, Mr. V. Quidousse (Belgian Scrap Terminal), Dr. A. Sevenster (Vinyl Plus); Mrs. I. Vervloet (Federauto); Mr. L. Waignein (Galloo), and Prof. Dr. T.Yoshioka (Tohoku Univ., Japan), as well as the (unknown) reviewers.

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  1. State Key Laboratory of Clean Energy Utilization, Zhejiang University, Zheda Road 38#, Hangzhou, 310027, China

    Alfons Buekens & Xujian Zhou

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  1. Alfons Buekens
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Correspondence to Alfons Buekens.

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Buekens, A., Zhou, X. Recycling plastics from automotive shredder residues: a review. J Mater Cycles Waste Manag 16, 398–414 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10163-014-0244-z

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