Recent Progress in Closing the Loop of Automobile Recyclability - Japan

Recycling has become, and will continue to be one of the key technical issues for the automotive industry's role in protection of the global environment. Continued increases in vehicle registrations and use of non-metallic automotive materials will present a increasing opportunity for the utilization of currently wasted resources. Toyota has set up a management body and continues efforts to establish the necessary technologies and strategies for reduction and recovery of these wasted materials as valuable resources. Automakers worldwide are currently investigating numerous technically feasible recycling methodologies. These technologies may be useful for post-use vehicle recycling, but will require further development. It is important to focus current efforts on investigation of as many of these as possible in cooperation with related organizations. Future most promising technologies will be selected using certain criteria for automotive recycling, such as minimum total energy balance or maximum cost benefit. Those technologies will naturally fit into, and economically strengthen the current automobile recycling infrastructure.