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Title: Recent trends in automobile recycling: An energy and economic assessment

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/10135024· OSTI ID:10135024
; ;  [1];  [2]
  1. Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (United States)
  2. Tennessee Univ., Knoxville, TN (United States). Dept. of Biochemistry

Recent and anticipated trends in the material composition of domestic and imported automobiles and the increasing cost of landfilling the non-recyclable portion of automobiles (automobile shredder residue or ASR) pose questions about the future of automobile recycling. This report documents the findings of a study sponsored by the US Department of Energy`s Office of Environmental Analysis to examine the impacts of these and other relevant trends on the life-cycle energy consumption of automobiles and on the economic viability of the domestic automobile recycling industry. More specifically, the study (1) reviewed the status of the automobile recycling industry in the United States, including the current technologies used to process scrapped automobiles and the challenges facing the automobile recycling industry; (2) examined the current status and future trends of automobile recycling in Europe and Japan, with the objectives of identifying ``lessons learned`` and pinpointing differences between those areas and the United States; (3) developed estimates of the energy system impacts of the recycling status quo and projections of the probable energy impacts of alternative technical and institutional approaches to recycling; and (4) identified the key policy questions that will determine the future economic viability of automobile shredder facilities in the United States.

Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
DOE Contract Number:
AC05-84OR21400
OSTI ID:
10135024
Report Number(s):
ORNL/TM-12628; ON: DE94008562
Resource Relation:
Other Information: PBD: Mar 1994
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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