Q&A car recycling : James White: "Car recyclers increase their focus on scrap quality and pre-shred preparation"

What makes your recycling technology stand out from others in the market?

There is a substantial range of recycling technology available on the market, this continues to grow year on year. Eriez stands out from the crowd with a range of quality, tried and tested products designed for the problems of tomorrow.

Eriez produces an impressive range of products for the Recycling industry with vast experience in producing Suspended Overband Magnets, Magnetic Head Pulleys, Eddy Current Separators and Metal Detectors, with all products designed to provide reliable, quality separation solutions for varying Recycling applications. Combining over 80 years of experience, we have gained a comprehensive understanding of the damage that can be caused to reputation and product quality by contamination, enabling us to provide reliable solutions for your production line.

There are many different components and materials liberated when shredding an ELV, both ferrous and non-ferrous separation techniques are required (Drum magnets, ECS, Optical sorters and so on), however, three products in particular set Eriez apart, the Pokersort, P-REX Scrap Drum and the Shred 1 Ballistic Separator. The Pokersort was designed to extract long, troublesome pokers prior to the Magnetic Scrap Drums.

The P-Rex remains the strongest magnetic scrap drum available on the market today, around 40% stronger than an equivalent sized electro scrap drum. Not only does this product reduce power consumption on site, but it also increases Ferrous recovery substantially.

In a typical shredder downstream, scrap yards will utilise two under-fed scrap drums, with little to no further processing. This often leaves copper-bearing items such as starter motors, alternators, and window motors, increasing the overall Cu level in the scrap (Often found to be 0.3% or even higher). Our Shred 1 ballistics separator compliments the P-Rex well. The Eriez shred 1 is a cost-effective, reliable solution for this issue. The unit provides consistent reduction of extrinsic copper, producing a quality low-copper ferrous scrap (Typically, ranging between 0.16 – 0.20% Cu, or potentially lower depending on intrinsic Cu levels). A combination of Eriez products can reduce the need for hand picking and provide additional revenue streams, previously untapped (There are several whitepapers available explaining this process in detail).

What changes have you seen in the car recycling industry over the years?

In recent years we have seen increased awareness of the quality of scrap available on the market and the importance of its availability to produce high-quality end products, whilst reducing the use of raw materials such as Pig Iron and DRI.

I believe that car recyclers are becoming more conscious of the effect that good-quality pre-shred sorting, preparation and disassembly has on the scrap that is produced. The reduction of contaminants such as copper and chrome are becoming increasingly more of important. New methods of separation are being developed and utilised to further improve the process of recycling ELVs.

Related article: Luisa Macchion: "The future of car recycling will rely on advanced technology and automation to manage increasingly complex vehicles"

What are the biggest challenges facing the car recycling industry today?

From discussions with several of our customers in Europe, it remains quite unclear what purity/quality of scrap will be required by the mills, however, there is certainly awareness that quality will be more closely monitored in the near future as mills move away from the traditional BOFs and switch over to EAFs.

Regarding plastics and rubber, the demand for clean recycled material is of course increasing as we work towards a true circular economy.

With a number of automotive manufacturers working to produce net zero vehicles by 2030, change is required.

How do you see the future of car recycling, especially with the evolution of automotive technology?

I expect to see substantial growth in this industry over the coming years as technology improves and EVs become more affordable to the everyday user.

New vehicles are incorporating new technologies containing increasing amounts of electrical components and circuit boards, as users demand functionality such as CarPlay / Mirror link, etc. This will ultimately require the use of many different separation solutions to meet environmental targets.

I suspect that future demand for recycled automotive parts will increase in line with growing awareness about environmental protection.

Better recycling of ELVs has substantial benefits for the environment, as waste previously being sent to landfill is redirected and reprocessed/repurposed. There are also significant energy savings when producing new components using recycled materials as opposed to using raw materials (An example is aluminium, recycling aluminium saves up to 95% of the energy required to produce Aluminium from ore). Reduced energy usage ultimately results in air quality improvement as less greenhouse gas emissions are produced.

Related article: Leonardo Forner: "We will have to wait a few more years to see a solid system in place when it comes to plastics recovery in the automotive sector"

How do you see the rise of electric vehicles impacting the car recycling industry?

With a push to ban the sale of new Petrol and Diesel cars by 2030, we will see substantially more electric vehicles on the road in years to come.

The rise in use of EVs will bring with it, its own challenges, and opportunities. Of course, EV battery recycling will become a necessity as battery service life can be around 8 – 12 years for vehicles in regular use. The recovery and purification of lithium, cobalt, nickel, and other precious metals from EV batteries that have reached the end of their service life is essential, given the limited resources available around the globe.

EV chassis and body panels contain substantial quantities of Aluminium, Stainless Steel, Mild Steel and Copper, all of which can be recycled if prepared and processed effectively. Eriez offer separation solutions for both EV battery and EV chassis recycling.

With the growing quantity of EVs on the road today, I believe manufacturers should be working closely with recyclers to ease separation and recycling of end-of-life vehicles, as there is certainly room for improvement.

Do you collaborate with automakers or other industries to enhance the recyclability of vehicles?

Eriez collaborates with recycling yards and mills throughout the globe, conducting trials to verify separation performance and develop our products to meet our customers’ needs.

Another interesting example of collaboration is the use of additives such as Eriez PolyMag in plastics for automotive, greatly improving the ability to detect and separate components that have failed internal inspection, allowing such items to be diverted to regrind and recycled/reformed.

How do you see regulations and government policies influencing the car recycling industry?

Regulations and government policies will likely result in a greater focus on achieving cleaner, more efficient recycling of end-of-life vehicles and materials.

I suspect that we will see a boost in recycling rates as government review existing policies and adapt to further protect the environment and kept to a minimum unless there are greenhouse gas emission savings. The Carbon footprint of components will need to be accounted for going forward, especially with net zero 2050 in mind.

How do you see the global demand for recycled materials affecting your business?

We are beginning to see increased levels of interest in separation technology for this field, and we do not expect this to stop any time soon.

With increased demand for recycled material, enhanced downstream equipment will be required.

New applications are arising all the time, providing new opportunities to utilise Eriez existing range of products to their full potential, whilst also forcing development to meet new market demands.

Are there any emerging markets or regions where you see significant growth potential for your technology?

We have been working closely with Steel Mills and Scrap Recyclers over recent years, listening to the issues being faced today and developing separation solutions.

Although this a well-established market, this is an area where we expect to see significant growth over the next 5 years. Globally Eriez has seen great success with the Shred 1 ballistic separator, as the unit becomes a staple in Ferrous downstream lines throughout the US, with increasing uptake across Europe. The driving force for some emerging markets is the decarbonisation of the steel industry and net zero 2050. BOFs use more raw materials which are less sustainable whereas EAFs can tolerate a lot more scrap metals which helps to provide a circular economy in steel production. If we can optimise the quality of steel scrap (i.e., reducing impurities such as copper) we can use more scrap in the blend or mix of metals used to create new steel.