❙
SummaryThe use of aluminum alloys in automobile production is growing as automakers strive to lower vehicle fuel consumption and reduce emissions by substituting aluminum for steel. The current recycling infrastructure for end-of-life vehicles is mature, profitable, and well suited to steel-intensive vehicles; increased use of cast and wrought aluminum, however, will present new challenges and opportunities to the disassembler and shredder, who now comprise the first stages of the vehicle recycling infrastructure.Using goal programming techniques, a model of the auto recycling infrastructure is used to assess the materials streams and process profitabilities for several different aluminum-intensive vehicle (AIV) processing scenarios. The first case simulates the processing of an AIV in the current recycling infrastructure. Various changes to the initial case demonstrate the consequences to the disassembler and shredder profitabilities whenever the price of nonferrous metals changes; greater fractions of the vehicle are removed as parts; the parts removed by the disassembler have increased aluminum content; the quantity of polymer removed by the disassembler is increased; the disassembly costs increase; the disposal costs for shredder residue and hazardous materials increase; the shredder processing costs increase; and different AIV designs are considered. These profits are also compared to those achieved for a steel unibody vehicle to highlight the impact of introducing AIVs into the existing infrastructure. Results indicate that the existing infrastructure will be able to accommodate AIVs without economic detriment. ❙ Keywords aluminum automobile disassembly goal programming recycling scrap
Summary
Rising fuel prices and concern over emissions are prompting automakers and legislators to introduce and evaluate “clean vehicles” throughout the United States. Hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) are now on the roads, electric vehicles (EVs) have been test marketed, and niche vehicles such as high‐fuel‐economy microcars are being considered for introduction. As these vehicles proliferate and mature, they will eventually reach their end of life (EOL). In the United States, an extensive recycling infrastructure exists for conventional, internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles. Its primary constituents are the disassembler and the shredder. These industries, as well as battery recyclers, are expected to play integral roles in the EOL processing of clean vehicles.
A model of the automobile‐recycling infrastructure and goal programming techniques are used to assess the materials streams and process profitabilities for several different clean vehicles. Two‐seat EVs with lead‐acid or NiMH batteries are compared with two‐ and four‐seat HEVs and microcars. Changes to the nonferrous content in the vehicle bodies are explored and compared for the effect on processing profit‐ability. Despite limitations associated with the linearity of goal programming techniques, application of this tool can still provide informative first‐order results. Results indicate that although these clean vehicles may not garner the same profit levels as conventional ICE vehicles, they are profitable to process if there are markets for parts and if there are sufficient quantities of nonferrous materials.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.