Essential information for end of life vehicle dismantling, depollution and recycling

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Demands for more Reuse and Recycling

Demands for more reuse and recycling - ELVs
Klaus Hauschulte, CEO of Scholz Recycling GmbH
With less than a day to go until the IARC conference begins, a number of speakers will take to the podium, including Klaus Hauschulte, CEO of Scholz Recycling GmbH, Artemis Hatzi-Hull from the EU Commission, Eric Hannon from McKinsey & Company, Inc. and Johann Prammer from voestalpine AG to name but a few.

 

ICM had the opportunity to talk to Klaus Hauschulte about his upcoming presentation at the IARC on the subject, ‘Demands for more Reuse and Recycling’:

Mr Hauschulte, at the IARC 2019 you will be talking on the subject of “Demands for more Reuse and Recycling”. How important is the topic of reuse for your company?

As experts for driving the circular economy via recycling and as part of our Vision 2022, electric mobility and the increasing volume of batteries are topics of the future that we at Scholz Recycling want to discuss. Reuse is always preferable to recycling. That’s not only important in legal terms, but ecologically as well. Particularly batteries, lubricants and spare parts can already be potentially reused and for that reason we are attempting to improve recycling routes in collaboration with our partners. An important point, however, is that we handle wastes in a proper manner, even before they are reused.

Is reuse therefore also a potentially viable business for end-of-life vehicle recyclers because recycling is becoming less lucrative?

Reuse is definitely an important aspect for car recyclers, too, but end-of-life vehicles are not glass bottles. We are not planning to enter the spare parts business; that’s up to the dismantling companies. However, the increasing connectedness of vehicle components via software and their ability to be updated could be stumbling blocks for immediate reusability. Solutions will then be needed, not only for reuse, in order for components and raw materials to be reused in production scenarios. If we don’t create common strategies to tackle these questions at European level, recycling could become anything but lucrative, as the ratio of metals to plastics is changing.

Your core competence is actually in the field of metal recycling. Which percentage of metals are you currently able to recycle from end-of-life vehicles?

As a leading recycler of nonferrous metals and steel scrap, Scholz is capable of recovering up to 99 per cent of the metals, even from finely granulated shredder residues, and only last year we again invested in the further development of our systems in order to do so. Nevertheless, additional investment will be needed going forward that we will hardly be able to afford on our own, the reason being that the composites and alloys used in lightweight components are making it increasingly difficult to achieve complete purity when sorting. Moreover, between 2010 and 2030 the ratio of metals is likely to drop from 70 per cent to just below half of the material mix.

And what does the remainder consist of?

Going forward, almost one third of an end-of-life vehicle will consist of polymers and composites for which there is no market and no commercially viable separation and sorting technology, as it has yet to be developed. Even energy recovery is becoming increasingly difficult. That’s a serious problem for ELV recycling in general and that’s why it will be the main topic of my talk. We need to create solutions in collaboration with the manufacturers and the suppliers.

Although composites make vehicles lighter, it is a well-known fact that they are far more difficult to recycle. Is the automotive industry ready to listen?

I sincerely hope so. I used to work for a major lightweight construction supplier, I’m familiar with the business and therefore convinced that we need technical developments from that field. However, we can also find solutions by incorporating recyclability at the product design stage. We could even share the R&D costs with the automotive industry and thus generate benefits in terms of costs, recycling, environmental protection and resource supply security. We have already made numerous offers from our side, so let’s see what comes of them.

The automotive industry is currently deeply involved with the question of how manufacturers can cut their carbon emissions. What needs to happen to ensure that automotive developers also focus more keenly on the recyclability of the materials used?

Together with a competitor, Scholz Recycling has already started a recycling initiative at national level to get manufacturers, researchers, associations and politicians on one common platform. It’s no good simply worrying about the banning of plastic straws, we need to give recycling products a viable market, also by creating favourable political framework conditions if necessary and creating demand as well as incentives all the way to the consumers, as we don’t have a market for non-metallic residues. This could be done by broadening the ecodesign directive and adapting the end-of-life vehicles directive accordingly. And we need to speak about more ideas than just reuse quotas for recycling products in manufacturing. We are talking about manufacturer responsibility, raw materials production and reducing carbon emissions across the entire life cycle of a vehicle – recycling needs to be at both the beginning and the end.

For all the details on the program and how to register, go to: www.icm.ch/iarc-2019  

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Owain Griffiths

Owain Griffiths

Head of Circular Economy at Volvo Cars

Owain joined Volvo Cars in June 2021 to lead Circular Economy in the Global Sustainability Team. The company has committed to being a circular business by 2040 and has financial, recycled content and CO2 based targets for 2025, all of which Owain is working across the company to make happen. Owain previously worked for circular economy consultancy Oakdene Hollins where he advised businesses on evidence led circular economy implementation. 

Turning into a circular business and the importance of vehicle reuse and recycling.

The presentation will cover the work Volvo Cars is doing to achieve 2025 but mainly focus on the transformational work towards 2040 and the business and value chain changes being considered. Attention will be paid to the way vehicles are being dealt with at the end of life and the complexities of closing material and component loops. Opportunities and challenges which Volvo Cars is facing will be presented including engagement with 3rd parties and increasing pressure from stakeholders.

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e2e Total Loss Vehicle Management [e2e] is the UK’s only salvage and automotive recycling network with nationwide, environmentally compliant sites delivering performance resilience and service reliability to the insurance and fleet markets.  The network’s online salvage auction www.salvagemarket.co.uk drives strong salvage resale values and faster sales.  e2e’s salvage clients have access to the network’s stocks of over 5 million quality graded, warranty assured reclaimed parts. 

The power of the network model means e2e has the ability to influence industry standards and is committed to continually raising the bar whilst redefining the role and perceived value of the salvage operator.  Network members adhere to robust service level agreements, against which they are audited, in order to ensure performance consistency and a market leading customer experience.  

The salvage and recycling operating environment is evolving rapidly, and e2e is anticipating, listening and responding to changing market needs.  Regulatory compliance, ESG, reclaimed parts, customer experience, EVs, new vehicle technologies, data and reputation risk are just some of many considerations linked to the procurement of salvage services.  e2e will drive further added value to clients and members through the adoption and application of emerging technologies, continuing to differentiate its proposition and position salvage services as a professional partnership. 

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