Design for Recyclingan Essential Component of any Automobile

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Design for Recycling?--an Essential Component of
any Automobile

• Joint Study Groups Workshop on Metals Recycling
• St. Petersburg, Russia
• 11 September 2003

Scott J. Horne Counsel Managing Director of
Government Relations Institute of Scrap Recycling
Industries
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Why Are We Here Today?

• Hazardous/Toxic Materials Used in Products
  Present a Grave Danger to Recyclers
• Environment
• Health/Safety
• The Use of Materials That Are Not Readily
  Recyclable Creates Unnecessary Waste That Must
  Ultimately Be Landfilled

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Four Points of Our Discussion

• Automakers must
• Make their products easily recyclable
• Reduce the environmental risks from their
  products
• Help to control environmental problems caused by
  their products
• Receive assistance from governments and related
  industries in accomplishing these goals

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What is ISRI?

• 1,350 Private Sector Scrap Recycling Companies
• 3,000 facilities throughout North America
• 200 Shredding Facilities

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How Much Do We Recycle Annually?

• 60-65 million tons of iron steel
• 5.1 million tons of aluminum
• 1.7 million tons of copper
• 1.4 million tons of lead
• 1.1 million tons of stainless steel
• 248,000 tons of zinc
• 45-50 million tons of paper

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Approximate Energy Savings from Recycling

• Aluminum 95
• Copper 85
• Plastics 80
• Iron Steel 74
• Paper 64

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Design for Recycling

• Embodies the basic premises necessary to maintain
  a thriving recycling chain
• A mindset that product engineers must embrace if
  their designs are to be considered
  environmentally friendly
• An alternative to governmental intervention in
  product design

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Consumers of Scrap Want Quality Materials

• Contaminants in scrap metals, even those that are
  not hazardous contaminants, can affect the
  manufacture of new metals.

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Materials in Automobiles that are Difficult to
Recycle

• Powder Metals
• Plastics
• Composites
• Paper

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Hazardous/Toxic Materials

• Cadmium
• Lead
• Mercury
• Sodium Azide/Air Bags

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Manufacturer Responsibility

• Unless there are compelling reasons to the
  contrary, manufactured products should not
  contain materials that will interfere with or
  stop the recycling process.
• Manufacturers must take responsibility for their
  design choices by providing financial and
  technical support

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Assistance for Manufacturers

• Manufacturers should not be asked to bear all the
  costs of Design for Recycling, any more than
  recyclers should be required to continue to bear
  all the environmental risks of recycling in the
  absence of appropriate product design.

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