Every end-of-life car is a source of raw materials – in theory anyway. In practice, however, these resources are still used far too seldom – particularly where plastics are concerned. During the recycling process, the polymers land in the non-metallic shredder residue along with dust, slivers of metal and textile fluff, and are made into granulate using the SiCon process. This mixes the plastics so indiscriminately that it has never yet been possible to separate them into the individual types again. They are normally used as reducers in blast furnaces.
In a joint project with Toyota and Sicon, researchers…have developed a special solvent that removes a particular type of plastic from the granulate: the polyolefins used to make air filter housings, shock absorbers and side panels,” says IVV project manager Dr. Martin Schlummer.
“While this type of polymer dissolves in the solvent, the other plastics remain in the granulate.” The solvent is separated from the polyolefin and re-used. There is a further advantage, too: The CreaSolv® process is so effective as a cleaner that scientists can also separate out any toxins with which the polymer may have come into contact during shredding. “Using this technology, the overall recycling rate for end-of-life cars – metals, plastics and textiles – can be increased to over 90 percent,” says Schlummer.
The researchers have already been using the idea behind CreaSolv® for about a year, with great success, to recover styrene copolymers from electrical appliances such as computers and TVs. In this way, the researchers can recycle about 50 percent of the high plastic content in discarded electrical appliances.
Living in a county where recycling 101 is finally about to start – after decades of political struggle – I appreciate the potential this process offers.
Now, to get started on our 17th Century politicians. Oh, and – yes, I know it’s a press release. Doesn’t make it less useful.
toyota’s are indeed junk.
Right. You’d obviously be better off with that DeSoto.
Despite the severity of the accident, Sally emerged miraculously unscathed.
#3….Thanks for the laugh. Now I have to clean the coffee off the keyboard.
Whatever happened to the fervent recycling movement(s) of the 60s, 70s, 80s, then 90s? For the record, I recycle soda cans, plastic bottles, milk jugs, beer/wine bottles, boxes from all my frozen/shelf/beer food packaging, newspaper and periodicals, metal cans, the wrappers from the metal cans are put in with the paper, computer cases (broken down into plastics, metals, and boards), even scraps of food (indirectly, they go into the squirrel/raccoon feeder called the communal dumpster). Other things I deem viable go to friends, family, or the local thrift store. I truly wish things were manufactured and packaged in such a way that everybody could/would recycle more.
Eating fast food is particularly irritating, because there is so much plastic used. Plastic one-use utensils, big plastic one-use super-size cups, plastic wrappers – plastic, plastic, plastic… remember when everybody thought paper wrappers were bad because trees had to die to make the wrappers?? Well, hell, in 20,000 years, paper bags and wrappers might be trees again. Plastic bags will still be plastic bags.
Hopefully, the out of control nanobots that will inevitably dine on all living things and evolve into Borg or Transformers – hopefully, they’ll like plastic and styrofoam, too…
Recycled plastic cannot be used for anything to do with food, so that cuts a lot of possible uses right there.
#6 – Right… Because other than food uses, plastic is very very rare in our lives… 🙂
Is this plastic so expensive that it’s worth taking it out of cars?