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Review
. 2014 Aug 15;7(8):5883-5902.
doi: 10.3390/ma7085883.

Challenges and Alternatives to Plastics Recycling in the Automotive Sector

Lindsay Miller  1 , Katie Soulliere  2 , Susan Sawyer-Beaulieu  3 , Simon Tseng  4 , Edwin Tam  5
Affiliations
Review

Challenges and Alternatives to Plastics Recycling in the Automotive Sector

Lindsay Miller et al. Materials (Basel). .

Abstract

Plastics are increasingly a preferred material choice in designing and developing complex, consumer products, such as automobiles, because they are mouldable, lightweight, and are often perceived to be highly recyclable materials. However, actually recycling the heterogeneous plastics used in such durable items is challenging, and presents very different scenarios to how simple products, such as water bottles, are recovered via curbside or container recycling initiatives. While the technology exists to recycle plastics, their feasibility to do so from high level consumer or industrial applications is bounded by technological and economical restraints. Obstacles include the lack of market for recyclates, and the lack of cost efficient recovery infrastructures or processes. Furthermore, there is a knowledge gap between manufacturers, consumers, and end-of-life facility operators. For these reasons, end-of-life plastics are more likely to end up down-cycled, or as shredder residue and then landfilled. This paper reviews these challenges and several alternatives to recycling plastics in order to broaden the mindset surrounding plastics recycling to improve their sustainability. The paper focuses on the automotive sector for examples, but discussion can be applied to a wide range of plastic components from similarly complex products.

Keywords: automobile; ecodesign; end-of-life vehicles; energy recovery; environmental impact; light-weighting; plastics recycling; renewable plastics; shredder residue; waste management.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Change in vehicle composition from 1970 to 2010 [8].
Figure 2
Figure 2
CO2 emissions during various life stages of an average vehicle (1000 kg) [8].
Figure 3
Figure 3
End-of-life vehicle (ELV) recovery and recycling rates reported by EU member states for 2011 [33].
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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