Characterization of automotive shredder residues from two shredding facilities with different refining processes in Sweden

Abstract

Strict legislation imposing producer responsibility on car manufacturers, introduced in 1998 in Sweden, has prompted a search for new alternatives for recycling organic materials in end-of-life vehicles (ELVs), i.e. the automotive shredder residue (ASR). The recovery of materials from ELVs must increase from the present 70 to 75%, to 95% by 2015. The aim of this study was to characterize material other than ferrous components, i.e. the (automotive) shredder residue [(A)SR] and the non-ferrous (NF), material in order to investigate its suitability for energy recovery. The results show that the good heat value of the material gives it potential, but high levels of metals and chlorinated compounds may cause problems. Levels of elements, metals and polychlorinated dibenzodioxins/furans (PCDD/ F), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) and polychlorinated benzenes (PCBz) in the ASR were also analysed, and the results are described and discussed.

A critical review of developments in the pyrolysis of automotive shredder residue

“…Although large, constant supplies are available [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12] to provide a secure supply, shredder residue contains proportions of sulphur, chlorine [13], heavy metals [14][15][16] and contaminant oils [17] from elastomers, PVC, metals and car fluids respectively which can vary significantly from hour to hour, requiring demanding design features the pyrolysis process. Not only the presence of these materials but the fluctuations in their levels in the feed [18][19][20][21] provides many challenges, themselves due to variations of types and ages of vehicles, additional scrap feed from white goods and light iron, [6,[21][22][23][24] and even different operating conditions at contractors supplying the feed. Adding to these challenges are the highly variable moisture content [12,18,21,22,24] and energy content [6,7,[25][26][27][28][29] of SR. Full information on all of these parameters is needed for the design of appropriate thermal processes.…”

“…Not only the presence of these materials but the fluctuations in their levels in the feed [18][19][20][21] provides many challenges, themselves due to variations of types and ages of vehicles, additional scrap feed from white goods and light iron, [6,[21][22][23][24] and even different operating conditions at contractors supplying the feed. Adding to these challenges are the highly variable moisture content [12,18,21,22,24] and energy content [6,7,[25][26][27][28][29] of SR. Full information on all of these parameters is needed for the design of appropriate thermal processes. Summaries of their published values are thus provided in this paper.…”

Guiding Future Research on the Valorisation of Shredder Fine Residues: A Review of Four Decades of Research

“…Consequently, only a few studies have established knowledge on the occurrence of other types of resources in fines such as plastics, minerals, other metals, and energy carriers. In the studies targeting environmental pollution risks (Börjeson et al, 2000;Fiore et al, 2012;Gonzalez-Fernandez et al, 2009Lanoir et al, 1997), the characterisation focuses on base and heavy metals due to their high contamination potential and the metals-based regulation of landfill disposal in Europe. Only two studies have so far established knowledge on the presence of other contaminants in fines such as different types of organic compounds (Börjeson et al, 2000;Morselli et al, 2010).…”

Polymer Recovery from Auto Shredder Residue by Projectile Separation Method

“…These polymers are identified by their "Resin Codes" and by other visual characteristics that allow them to be identified by human sight [32]. Swedish car manufacturers have started marking all their plastic components weighing more than 50g with individual resin codes since the 1990s [33]. This method of separation is sometimes facilitated by the use of various wavelengths of light.…”