UK plant uses recycling innovations to process cars and turn them into energy

The Financial Times reported recently on the opening of a new plant in Oldbury in the UK that promises to recycle almost 100 percent of old cars or else turn them into energy. While old cars are often used for parts, the fact remains that a lot of metal gets tossed into junk yards to rust slowly. That doesn’t even count the foam, rubber, and wood that is added to waste piles.

A company called European Metals Recycling already has plants that shreds and recycles steel, aluminum, and other metals from cars and other sources. The Oldbury plant, which was built as a joint venture between EMR and Chinook Sciences, takes care of all of the rest of the rubbished car with new recycling innovations by turning the non-metal bits into synthetic gas that can then be used to operate turbines, much like natural gas.

The drive to recycle cars is being paced by rising landfills taxes in the UK and a mandate by the European Union to achieve 85 percent recycling of rubbished cars. The UK has already exceeded that goal with an 88 percent rate in 2013. The mandate is rising to 95 percent at the start of 2015, however. The Oldbury plant is expected to achieve a 99 percent recycling rate for cars, with the remaining one percent being ash and glass shards.

One caveat exists, however. In order to make cars lighter, thus reducing emissions such as CO2, many new vehicles are being made with carbon fibers and composite materials. While this move is obviously a good thing, the new materials are more difficult to recycle after the life of the car.