Automotive Shred Residue

Using Automotive Shredder Residue (ASR)—also known as Car Frag—offers several environmental, economic, and operational benefits when properly processed. Here’s a detailed breakdown:

🔄 1. Resource Recovery & Circular Economy

• Maximizes material recovery from End-of-Life Vehicles (ELVs), beyond just metals.
• Recovers plastics, rubber, foam, textiles, and glass that would otherwise go to landfill.
• Supports the circular economy by turning waste into reusable materials or energy.

♻️ 2. Reduces Landfill Dependency

• ASR can make up 20–25% of a vehicle’s weight and is traditionally landfilled.
• Recycling or energy recovery from ASR significantly reduces landfill volumes and associated environmental risks (e.g. leachate, methane emissions).

🔥 3. Energy Recovery Potential

• ASR contains a high proportion of calorific materials (plastics, rubber, textiles).
• It can be used as Refuse-Derived Fuel (RDF) or Solid Recovered Fuel (SRF) in:
  • Cement kilns
  • Waste-to-energy (WtE) plants
  • Industrial furnaces

This displaces fossil fuels and contributes to carbon footprint reduction.

💰 4. Economic Value

• Reduces disposal costs by diverting ASR from landfill.
• Generates revenue streams from:
  • Recovered metals and polymers
  • Alternative fuels
  • Carbon credits (in some jurisdictions)

Creates jobs and innovation in recycling technologies and logistics.

🌍 5. Environmental Compliance & Sustainability

• Helps meet EU and UK ELV Directive targets (e.g. 95% recovery, 85% recycling).
• Reduces environmental impact of vehicle disposal.
• Encourages eco-design in automotive manufacturing by highlighting material recovery challenges.

🧪 6. Technological Innovation

• Drives development of advanced sorting and separation technologies:
  • Electrostatic separation
  • Density-based sorting
  • AI and sensor-based systems

Encourages investment in cleaner, more efficient recycling infrastructure.

🏭 7. Supports Industrial Decarbonisation

• ASR-derived fuels can be used in energy-intensive industries (e.g. cement, steel) to reduce reliance on coal or petcoke.
• Contributes to net-zero goals by replacing fossil fuels with waste-derived alternatives.