The Plastics Industry Association has just released the final results of their end-of-life vehicle recycling demonstration.
The project, initiated in 2015, began to determine which parts of cars bumpers and interior parts can be broken down to be made into new products.
The results of the project showed that thermoplastic polyolefin (TPO) can in fact be recovered and reused by auto recyclers.
“The properties of the material were very close to what we would see from a recycler,” said Meagan Marko, product line manager at Noble Polymers.
“We saw a lot of promise in the material…there will be a lot of use for it in the market.”
TPO is widely used in the automotive industry because it’s unable to degrade under radiation from the sun. It can mostly be found in bumpers and some parts of the interior.
“The results from the ELV project indicate that there is technology and a market to recycle more plastic from vehicles,” stated Kendra Martin, VP of PIA’s industry affairs. “Organizations have been able to make new parts from car bumpers.”
This discovery is exciting for both Plastics Industry and auto recyclers alike. By making this discovery, less bumper parts will end up in landfills.
“By developing lasting, sustainable end markets for these materials, even those extracted from scrap cars and trucks”, Plastics CEO Patty Long stated, “Plastics is giving scrap materials a new life through recycling.”
