Vehicle recycling has taken a big step to net zero with a new process that ends landfill and produces clean energy.
Waste management specialist Recycling Lives has developed a pioneering approach to dealing with vehicle recycling and the estimated two million cars that reach the end of their life in UK every year.
The company recycles the majority of parts and the remaining automotive shredder residue (ASR) amounts to about 25 per cent of ELV mass left. The company is able to recover 20 per cent leaving five per cent which to date has gone to landfill due to its complex disposition. This five per cent is now being addressed through the company’s energy-from-waste solution to significantly reduce the amount of landfill.
The company has developed a revolutionary process that uses the hard-to-recycle ASR to generate power and green hydrogen through cutting edge thermal treatment technologies that reduces waste-to-landfill and contributes to a cleaner, safer environment.
The vehicle recycling firm is aiming to completely reduce landfill from vehicle ASR within four years.
Gerry Marshall, ceo of Recycling Lives, said: “The waste sector contributes ten per cent of greenhouse gas emissions globally and COP27 will remind the world that failure to safely manage waste affects health, the environment and contributes to green house gas emissions.
“As the largest end-of-life car processor in the UK, we responsibly recycle upwards of 150,000 cars a year and automotive shredder residue has traditionally been a major issue, accounting for up to a quarter of every vehicle’s material. Preventing this valuable material from taking up landfill space has been a key driver for this innovation and we are thrilled to have played a crucial part in turning a problem into a positive solution.
“We’re aiming to have our first operational plant up and running by the end of 2023, and we’ll be generating power across our other main plants during 2024 and 2025, and thereafter, working on providing power back to the grid over the following 12-18 months. We’re looking to achieve zero percent landfill from ASR within four years.”
Recycling Lives executive chairman, Andrew Hodgson added: ’Our company is founded on the principles of creating social value, delivering environmental innovation and governance, and we believe in doing good sustainable business. But there’s always more that we can all be doing to save the planet. COP27 is a timely reminder that we all need to act now on climate change.”
