End-of-life vehicles (ELV) have become a global concern as automobiles have become popular worldwide. An international workshop was held to gather data and to discuss 3R policies and ELV recycling systems, their background and present situation, outcomes of related policies and programs, the framework of recycling and waste management, and case studies on related topics in several countries and regions, as well as the essential points of the comparison. Legislative ELV recycling systems are established in the EU, Japan, Korea, and China, while in the US, ELV recycling is managed under existing laws on environmental protection. Since automobile shredding residue (ASR) has a high calorific value and ash content, and includes heavy metals as well as a mass of unclassified fine particles, recycling ASR is considered highly difficult. Countries with a legislative ELV system commonly set a target for recovery rates, with many aiming for more than 95 % recovery. In order to reach this target, higher efficiency in ASR recovery is needed, in addition to material recycling of collectable components and metals. Environmentally friendly design was considered necessary at the planning and manufacturing stages, and the development of recycling systems and techniques in line with these changes are required for sound ELV management.

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Antimony (Sb) is a naturally occurring toxic element commonly associated with arsenic (As) in the environment and both elements have similar chemistry and toxicity. Increasing numbers of studies have focused on microbial As transformations, while microbial Sb interactions are still not well understood. To gain insight into microbial roles in the geochemical cycling of Sb and As, soils from Sb mine tailing were examined for the presence of Sb- and As-oxidizing bacteria. After aerobic enrichment culturing with AsIII (10 mM) or SbIII (100 μM), pure cultures of Pseudomonas- and Stenotrophomonas-related isolates with SbIII oxidation activities and a Sinorhizobium-related isolate capable of AsIII oxidation were obtained. The AsIII-oxidizing Sinorhizobium isolate possessed the aerobic arsenite oxidase gene (aioA), the expression of which was induced in the presence of AsIII or SbIII. However, no SbIII oxidation activity was detected from the Sinorhizobium-related isolate, suggesting the involvement of different mechanisms for Sb and As oxidation. These results demonstrate that indigenous microorganisms associated with Sb mine soils are capable of Sb and As oxidation, and potentially contribute to the speciation and mobility of Sb and As in situ.

The potential risk of toxic metals that could leach into a beach environment from plastic litter washed ashore on Ookushi Beach, Goto Islands, Japan was estimated by balloon aerial photography, in situ beach surveys, and leaching experiments in conjunction with a Fickian diffusion model analysis. Chromium (Cr), cadmium (Cd), tin (Sn), antimony (Sb), and lead (Pb) were detected in plastic litter collected during the beach surveys. Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) fishing floats contained the highest quantity of Pb. Balloon aerial photography in conjunction with a beach survey gave an estimated mass of Pb derived from plastic litter of 313 ± 247 g. Lead leaching experiments on collected PVC floats showed that Pb in the plastic litter could leach into surrounding water on the actual beach, and that plastic litter may act as a "transport vector" of toxic metals to the beach environment. Using the experimental data, the total mass of Pb that could leach from PVC plastic litter over a year onto Ookushi Beach was estimated as 0.6 ± 0.6 g/year, suggesting that toxic metals derived from plastic beach litter are a potential "pathway" to contamination of the beach environment due to their accumulation in beach soil over time.