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Recyclability Index for Automobiles
EPA Grant Number: SU832479Title: Recyclability Index for Automobiles
Investigators: Nelson, Yarrow M. , Cota, Harold , Kean, Andrew , McDonald, Margot , Richards, Deanna , Tsuji, Alexander , Vanasupa, Linda
Institution: California Polytechnic State Univ - San Luis Obispo
EPA Project Officer: Nolt-Helms, Cynthia
Project Period: December 30, 2005 through May 30, 2006
Project Amount: $9,990
RFA: P3 Awards: A National Student Design Competition for Sustainability Focusing on People, Prosperity, and the Planet (2005)
Research Category: Pollution Prevention/Sustainable Development
Description:
The project's purpose is to create a rating system for the ecological impacts of vehicles at the end of their life based on recyclability, toxic material content, and ultimate disposal. Each year, 10-11 million vehicles are retired from service in the United States. The vehicle material not recycled is called Automotive Shredder Residue (ASR). About 4.5 to 5 million tons of ASR are disposed in solid waste landfills. This residue will increase as vehicle manufacturers continue to use more plastics and composites in their designs to reduce weight and increase fuel efficiency. The proposed grading system will help educate consumers about environmental performance and allow them to factor this performance into their choice of automobiles. This, in turn, is expected to influence the vehicle producer's choice of manufacturing methods in the same way as the Toxic Release Inventory helped reduce the amount of hazardous waste produced in the mid-1980s. The rating system will be modeled after life cycle assessment with weighted criteria for the recycling ability of vehicle components. The rating system will be tested on two 2005 model vehicles including a sensitivity analysis to see the effect, for example, of replacing a hazardous component of the car (mercury switch) with a non-hazardous one (mercury-free switch). The rating system will be developed with guidance from a team of professors with broad engineering backgrounds as well as industry professionals. A large part of the project's budget covers travel expenses for networking with the United States, European industrial professionals and EPA personnel. This project will be included into a second year college level eco-product/life-cycle-assessment class in the Materials Engineering Department and in a senior level pollution prevention class in the Environmental Engineering Department.
Supplemental Keywords:pollution prevention, life-cycle analysis, waste reduction, engineering, transportation, recycle, automobile,
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INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION, TREATMENT/CONTROL, Sustainable Industry/Business, Scientific Discipline, RFA, POLLUTION PREVENTION, Technology for Sustainable Environment, Sustainable Environment, Technology, Energy, Chemicals Management, Environmental Engineering, Environmental Chemistry, Chemistry and Materials Science, energy conservation, environmentally applicable nanoparticles, environmental sustainability, environmental conscious construction, cleaner production, life cycle analysis, clean technologies, green design, automotive industry, green chemistry, Design for Environment, environmentally conscious manufacturing, biopolymers, nanomaterials, alternative materials, life cycle assessment, air pollution control, environmentally friendly green products, automotive components, automotive supply chain, environmentally conscious design, nanocomposite, polypropylene substitute, environmentally benign alternative, automotive interior parts, clean manufacturing, biodegradable plastics