Automobiles are one of the most highly recycled consumer products around the world. All vehicles contain parts and materials – particularly iron, steel and aluminum – that can be recovered at the end of their useful lives. In North America, about 95 percent of vehicles that go out of registration are processed by a dismantler or scrap metal recycling facility, with 82 to 84 percent of the vehicle by weight recovered for reuse, remanufacturing or recycling.
In theory, end-of-life vehicles are nearly 100 percent recyclable. In practice, however, the cost in energy and labor to recover the final fractions often exceeds the value of the materials, and recent, independently reviewed environmental studies suggest that such efforts also offer no value to the environment. Ford focuses on increasing the economically viable and environmentally sound recycling percentage through a number of means: selection of materials, labeling and providing information to dismantlers on materials and methods for treatment.
In the EU, automakers are required to take back vehicles (that they put on the market) at the end of their lives, ensuring that they are treated in an environmentally responsible manner. Since 2002, Ford has been at the forefront of providing return networks in the EU Member States that have established regulations. For example, Ford was the first major manufacturer in the UK to put in place a comprehensive plan that meets the European Commission End-of-Life Vehicles directive. Ford and Cartakeback Limited, a subsidiary of the UK Shredders consortium, are working in partnership to develop a network of take-back and treatment facilities throughout the UK.
Ford has also participated in research into alternative treatments for end-of-life vehicles. Together with other European automotive manufacturers, a fully ISO 14040-compliant LCA study has been finalized showing that – from a purely environmental point of view – there is no difference between recycling automotive shredder residue (the materials remaining after recovery of metals) and using it for energy recovery.
