More work needed to help car recyclers deal with air bags

The call came during an open day held yesterday, at which Autogreen officially established its new headquarters at the Daventry-based dismantlers Intapart.

Ian Gaskin, the former Universal Salvage environmental services director who set up Autogreen, said: “We need help from manufacturers, we need help from the manufacturers of air bags. Dismantlers need to help to find these airbags – there are up to 10 on modern cars.”

Autogreen director Ian Gaskin explains the Seda depollution system at the Intapart vehicle dismantling site near Daventry

Air bags became standard for UK cars during 1993, and so only now are they beginning to arise in ELVs. But, since they contain explosive elements, it is important to remove the air bags during the dismantling stage – otherwise, they might end up in aluminium smelters and cause accidents, Mr Gaskin warned.

“We've got to get this right,” he said, “it can be done in just a few minutes if you know where they are, but a lot of the time dismantlers don't know where they are.”

There is also an issue of whether dismantlers have correct adaptors available to connect air bag dismantling equipment to each type of air bag, Mr Gaskin said. He added that the Consortium of Automotive Recycling (CARE) Group is aware of the issue, and that work was being carried out by vehicle manufacturers to solve the difficulties.

Autogreen
Autogreen is one of two major Authorised Treatment Facility (ATF) network providers to have announced contracts to set up networks for motor manufacturers to comply with their producer responsibility obligations under the ELV Directive.

The network provider bills itself as the “front face of motor dismantling”, placing an emphasis on maximising the return from each ELV by reclaiming as many re-usable parts as possible.

The first contract with a manufacturer for Autogreen came with the deal to provide recycling facilities for Vauxhall/SAAB (see letsrecycle.com story). The company looks set to sign further manufacturers up to its service in the coming months, before the deadline for manufacturers to submit details of the ATF Networks to the government in August 2005.

AWS
Autogreen works with waste logistics specialist Automotive Waste Solutions to provide collection from dismantlers for materials including tyres, batteries and fluids arising from the dismantling and de-pollution of vehicles. It is believed that while 75% of an ELV is comprised of easily recyclable metals, materials removed in de-pollution make up about 6% of an ELV.

AWS, which was originally set up to provide waste management services for car dealerships, is part of the Credential Environmental Group. It works through seven transfer stations and reprocessors nationwide.

Graham Gibson, commercial director for AWS, said markets were readily available for recycling these materials, although there had been some difficulties finding viable markets for anti-freeze, which contains hazardous glycol but too much water for viability.

Mr Gibson said his company's internet-based “ICALM” system (Integrated Customers and Logistics Management) allows for accurate data to be processed on the amount of materials recycled from ELVs.

Intapart's 1.4m de-pollution centre is showing the way forward for vehicle dismantling in the UK with its six Seda de-pollution rigs

Intapart
Yesterday's open day saw Autogreen revealing its new headquarters at the impressive Intapart dismantling site, near Daventry. The site is now home to a state-of-the-art 1.4 million de-pollution centre that includes six de-pollution rigs using German technology.

The fixed systems, made by Seda and supplied by UK distributors Rozone, allow ELVs to be de-polluted to UK and European standards in about 20 to 23 minutes each, with 98% of fluids from each ELV collected and separated out.

Mr Gaskin said: “Autogreen is proud to site its headquarter here – we would like to think that all Autogreen ATFs will be of such a high standard as this site.”

The Intapart site, which uses bar codes and computer technology to maximise the sale of re-usable parts, could de-pollute up to 36,000 vehicles each year if running at full capacity, Mr Gaskin said. This, he suggested, showed there would be no capacity problems in meeting the terms of the ELV Directive.

It is thought that about 2.6 million ELVs will require de-pollution each year from 2007, when the Directive's recycling requirements begin.