PROBLEMS RELATED TO TREATMENT

OF SCHREDDER RESIDUE FROM END-OF-

LIFE VEHICLES

V. GRILC* AND V. FABJAN**

*National Institute of Chemistry, Hajdrihova 19, Ljubljana, Slovenia

**DINOS, Recycling Company, Ljubljana, Slovenia

SUMMARY: End-of-life vehicles (ELVs) due to their inherent heterogeneity represent one of
the most problematic types of bulk wastes worldwide. In order to prevent environmental
pollution and loss of the valuable resources, end-of-life vehicles must be collected, dismantled,
disintegrated and the components/materials recycled. Recycling efficiency depends on many
factors: legislation, public awareness, extent of the collection network, average car age, type and
size, method of dismantling/disintegration, availability of market for the secondary materials,
etc. In Slovenia the activities with collection, treatment and recycling of ELV have started only
very recently. Some specialized companies were accredited to collect end-of-life vehicles all
over the country, erect the dismantling/milling plants and market the recovered secondary raw
materials. The paper will present state of end-of-life vehicles recycling in the transition country
Slovenia, and characterization/treatment of the shredder waste.

1. INTRODUCTION

End-of-life vehicles (ELVs) represent one of most important type of bulky waste in the
developed societies. It desires special attention, collection and treatment due to the following
reasons:
ELVs contain about 30.000 parts, composed of about 40 potentially recyclable materials
(Stuecheli, 2002), that may be relatively easily removed from the vehicle, separately
collected and recycled
some of the components (especially liquids) are hazardous for the environment and may
cause significant damage to surface and ground water if spilled in nature. Due care must be
taken also during car dismantling, separation and recycling.
Before 1970 the vehicle were made of limited number of materials, mainly metals. Since then
they have been gradually built bigger, stronger and materially more versatile. The development
has followed the need for higher lavel of safeness, comfort, performance and economy. New
light and durable materials, however, offered the weight of vehicles to remain approx. the same
or even smaller. Iron and steel have been replaced in great deal with light metals such as
aluminium and magnesium, various plastic materials and composites. This process however has
made the recycling of ELVs materials financially less attractive, since the non-metal alternative

Proceedings Sardinia 2003, Ninth International Waste Management and Landfill Symposium
S. Margherita di Pula, Cagliari, Italy; 6 - 10 October 2003
 2003 by CISA, Environmental Sanitary Engineering Centre, Italy
materials (plastics and composites) are less appropriate for material recycling. Furthermore,
separation of composites is quite often very difficult.
In Slovenia this problem has become very important in last ten years, when western-made
private cars have entirely substituted previous Yugoslav and Eastern Europe made cars. Every
year some ten thousands of end-of-life vehicles have been generated - situation the country with
lack of environmental awareness was completely unprepared to cope with. The paper will
present some achievements and problems related to the set-up of a practical and economic
management system of end-of-life vehicles in Slovenia during last few years, and special
concern paid to disposal of shredder residues.

1.1 Legal basis for management of ELVs

Regulation on waste management (Off.J.RS 84/98) (Regulation, 1998) addresses the ELVs only
superficially: the related environmental load is recognised and desired to be systematically
managed by special arrangements. Sub-regulations were issued in the following years in order to
control the management of special types of municipal wastes, among them end-of-life vehicles.
They were first regulated in the Decree of import, export and transit of waste (Off.J.RS 39/96,
based on Basel Convention) (Decree, 1996), as a separate group of bulky solid wastes. The ELVs
are treated there as secondary raw material in international waste trade. Therefore it is not
surprising, that ELVs are not listed on the accompaining waste catalogue.
Contrary may be said for the European Waste Catalogue (1994, 2000, 2001), introduced as the
main waste classification instrument in Slovenia in 1998. In the newest version, end-of-life
vehicles are listed in group 16 (wastes not otherwise specified), including subgroup 16 01 (end-
of-life vehicles from different means of transport), with 20 special types of waste from this
source e.g.:
- 16 01 04* end-of-life vehicles
- 16 01 06 ELVs not containing hazardous liquids or components
- 16 01 07* oil filters
- 16 0113* brake fluids etc.
Asterisk denotes hazardous nature of the waste!
In the earlier catalogues (1994, 2000) end-of-life vehicles from municipal sources had been
also included in subgroup 20 03 (other municipal wastes), but later on omitted. Also, end-of-life
vehicles were first denoted as a non-hazardous waste.
Local communities are responsible for elimination of discarded ELVs of unknown owners.
New national regulation currently issued (Decree 2003) givea a frame for faster problem
solving and to transpose the requirements of ELVs Directive (Directive 2000) leaves the
responsibility of ELVs proper removal to car producers, importers and traders of cars. They will
be allowed to charge a special levy to customers of new cars, which will allow free and integral
ultimate disposal at the end of car life cycle (starting 2007). The levy will not be uniform but
depends on weight of the car (5 cents per kg or approx 50 €/small car). For current ELVs a
special tax will be introduced to car produces, importers, public funds and direct cost of ELVs
disposal. These sources together should cover the current costs of disposal. Official de-
registration of a car will be possible only with certificate of legally disposed vehicle.
Separate to the general regulation on waste and hazardous waste, however, special regulation
already exists for some important types of waste such as: mineral oils, tyres, asbestos etc, which
must also be respected.
A special public system for management of ELVs of all types is being organised by giving
licences to qualified firms in order to:
- collect, sort and store end-of-life vehicles and their parts from all potential domestic sources
 - dismantle end-of-life vehicles into components and parts
- press and schred the metal parts
- separate recyclable materials and put them on the market.
The expected faster changes are driven by two factors:
a) EU Directive on ELVs, transposed into national environmental legislation, that will introduce
more strict control on ELVs,
b) growing market for secondary raw materials (especially metals and plastics), good prospects
for a profitable eco-business offering new labor posts etc.

1.2 Separate collection and dismantling of ELVs in Slovenia

In the national waste management strategy (Strategy, 1996) problem of ELVs was elaborated
quite in detail. 50,000 vehicles per year was an estimated capacity of all dismantling plants
needed (10 % of all cars in use). Possible use or disposal of main components obtained during
dismantling was also shown. National environmental protection action plan (1999) however does
not consider the ELVs problem, although this type of bulky waste represents a significant
amount of material, being very potential for recycling.
Data on number of cars in use and those, taken out of operation in last ten years in Slovenia (2
million inhabitants) are shown in Figure 1 (Ministry of Interior RS, 2002). The situation is quite
unsteady and it seems that the figure 50,000 vehicles, as proposed in the strategy, is exagerated.
About 30,000 ELVs may be expected in the following years.
Due to insufficient regulation and control, lack of specialized disposal facilities, undeveloped
market for secondary raw materials etc. at present there is relatively limited space for decent and
economic disposal of ELVs in Slovenia. Owners of old cars or light commercial vehicle have the
following options:
the vehicle is left on a private premises
the vehicle is left on a public premises or on a uncontrolled dump
the vehicle is passed to junkyards, to a dealer selling used spare-parts, or to a waste recycling
site

90000 50000
46317
80000 44035 45000
78063
40000
70000 67367
38931 38656

34135 61700 61700 62377 62377 34496 62534 35000

60000 59878
30014 53712 30000
51797
50000
24565 25000
22493
40000 20776
18660
20000
31191
30000 15000
20000 10000
1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002
Number of de-registered vehicles (right ordinate)
Number of newly registered vehicles (left ordinate)

Figure 1: Comparison of newly registered and de-registered vehicles in last ten years.
 the vehicle is passed upon payment (approx. 80 Euro) to an accredited ELVs dismantling
center; the regional system of such centers has just been started to operate.

1.3 Accredited centres for dismantling of ELVs

Based on the national environmental protection strategy, waste management strategy, waste
sector regulation and anticipated need for ELVs dismantling capacities, a network of
dismantling/recycling centers has begun to be established in Slovenia since the year 2000. About
this time the core of waste management regulation was issued and the conditions for running
business in this field of economy were set.
The responsible authority – Ministry of Environment has released several accreditations for
collection and processing of FLVs. According to demography, a network containing three
centers would be optimal for our country. Until now two national-wide recycling companies and
about 40 more or less legal junkyards have operated on this territory (one per 20.000 inhabitants
i.e. one per community). Most of them are primarily interested in car dismantling and selling
usable spare parts. So far five centers have obtained the permit according to new legislative
requirements. ELVs are denoted in the new waste catalogue as hazardous wastes, so the
dismantling operator must fulfill relatively severe conditions (technical, environmental, staff) for
this sort of facilities and sites. Such a center must fulfill technical requirements, have enough
spaces for equipment (presses, knifes, cutters, shredders) and also appropriate storage capacities
for ELVs, extracted fluids, usable parts, dismantled materials and components, shredded
materials, wastes etc. The list of registered centers is available on web of the responsible
ministry and once a year published in the Official Journal.

2. MANAGEMENT OF ELVs IN THE NEW RECYCLING COMPANY

The largest ELVs recycling company is located near Ljubljana, the state capital. It is a shared
company, consisting of six independent companies with limited responsibility, being located in
largest Slovene cities. Companies act independently on their fixed teritory for collection,
transport, storage and processing of various recyclable wastes. The system handles 20 large
collection/storage sites, situated all around the country. One of the important new activity is
collection and dismantling of end-of-life vehicles.
In the year 2001 the company managed to obtain from the responsible ministry the license for
ELVs dismantling; at the same time they completed investment into necessary technological
equipment.
Some of the heavy equipment involved for dismantling and disintegration of ELVs has already
been used for processing of various other types of bulky waste e.g. electrical equipment, waste
metal packaging (drums), industrial scrap metals etc.

2.1 The process and working procedure

The company has made agreements with numerous municipal waste collecting companies, ELVs
dismantlers, special waste collectors, transport companies, industries etc. to take over the ELVs
they collect or own. Individual owners of old passenger cars (based on documented ownership)
may ask for their qualified removal, however have to pay for it.
The process is a combination of dismantling and shredding and consists of the following
steps:
 Manual operations:
a) extraction of liquids from (gasoline, oils, break and refrigerator liquids, battery acids etc.),
that are passed over to subcontractors
b) dismantling of tires and other rubber parts (for recovery and energy recycling)
c) dismantling of battery, catalyst, oil filter and other potentially hazardous components (for
material and energy recycling)
d) dismantling of plastic and textile parts (for material and energy recycling)
e) assessment and dismantling of metal parts (potential for reuse)
Machine operations:
f) compressing of the remaining car into packets
g) disintegration of packets by cutting and shredding (metal chips for recycling + shredder
waste).
Step f) is made by means of the hydraulic press Ariete 400bar/130kW, and step g) by the cutter
HV 250 of inlet capacity 14 tons/h and shredder mill MA-500 L of inlet capacity 8 tons/h. For
the case of ELVs treatment the latter mill has two outlets:
- exit E 40 for steel chips of approx. size 40 mm, which are readily recycled in steelworks;
the stream represents about 70 % of the machine inlet material
- 5 % are non-ferrous metals, for recycling
- the rest 25 % is an inseparable shredder waste.

2.2 Composition and management of the shredder waste

The waste mixture consists particles of ferrous and non-ferrous metals, rust, rubber, plastics,
textile, glass, dirt etc that is washed out from the machine and pressed. Average composition of a
composite sample, being collected during three months of continuous operation of the line, as
well as the composition of its standard leachate (DIN 1984), is shown in Table 1.
The results shown the shredder waste may not be qualified as an inert waste, since the contents
of several heavy metals and total organic carbon exceed the limit values: lead for 17-times,
copper for 13-times, zinc for 9-times, TOC for 4 times; all values are however below limit values
for hazardous waste. For leachate limit values are set also for non-hazardous waste and – as can
be seen from Table 1 – no parameter exceeds the limit values. The shredder waste may therefore
be assigned as non-hazardous waste and may be disposed of accordingly.
Individual samples showed relative large oscillation in composition, especially lead sometime
exceeded limit value of 10.000 mg/kg for hazardous waste. The value may be attributed to high
content of lead in base paints in the old cars.
The activities of ELVs dismantling/shredding started in the year 2002, so that individual steps
are not yet fully synchronized and integrated. Efforts are being made to operate at nominal
capacity of the line, that would accommodate not only planned 30,000 of ELVs per year but also
significant amount of other metal waste (mainly of packaging origin).
The overall process needs improvements in order to improve yield and reduce waste:
- better preparation of inlet material (precise removal of components and parts for re-use,
separation of all non-metal components for recovery and recycling)
- adaptation to growing fraction of non-metals in newer cars
- energy recycling of some degraded plastic, textile and oily waste
- control the level of noise (there are residential areas in the plant vicinity).
Also, different types of metal wastes are treated consecutively, that takes some time for
adaptation of tools and procedures.
Table 1: Properties and composition of the shredder waste.
Waste Standard leachate
Parameter measured permitted value* measured permitted
value**
pH (/) - - 8.8 8-13
Electro conductivity (uS/cm) - - 700 -
Dry residue, 105°C (% or mg/l) 92.3 - 707 10.000
Ash, 550°C (%) 85.1 - - -
Inorganic parameters
Arsenic (mg/kg or mg/l) <100 200 <0.1 1.0
Cadmium (mg/kg or mg/l) 27 12 <0.05 0.5
Cobalt (mg/kg or mg/l) <150 250 <0.5 2.0
Copper (mg/kg or mg/l) 6421 500 <1.0 10
Chromium, total (mg/kg or mg/l) 568 500 <1.0 50
Iron (mg/kg or mg/l) 226.631 - <2.0 -
Lead (mg/kg or mg/l) 8703 500 <0.5 2.0
Molybdenum (mg/kg or mg/l) <100 500 <0.5 -
Nickel (mg/kg or mg/l) <400 500 <0.5 10
Zinc (mg/kg or mg/l) 13.368 1500 <3.0 10
Organic parameters
TOC (mg/kg or mg/l) 108.400 30.000 172.8 -
COD (mg/l) - - 561 -
Adsorbable organic halogens-AOX (mg/l) - - 0.17 1.0
*criteria for inert waste; ** criteria for non-hazardous waste (both Regulation 2000)
shaded: limit value exceeded

4. CONCLUSIONS

System of collection, dismantling and treatment of end-of-life vehicles in Slovenia on the basis
of new national (and European) legislation is gradually establishing. The paper describes the
system and presents the main obstacles, that remains to be overcome in order to achieve the
goals. Some of the needed componets are missing or insufficient: legislative (partly in
preparation), technical (dismantling equipment, treatment of by products), spatial (criteria for
siting the recycling centers), organisational and logistic (e.g. collection of ELVs, market for the
recovered materials), enviroinmental (hazard standards for waste) etc. Problems with low quality
recyclables (plastics, textile, rubber) and oily waste would require additional energy recovery
process (incineration or pyrolysis). The shredder waste for disposal may be assigned as a non-
hazardous waste, and calls for better pretretment of cars (better separation of materials) in order
to reduce its quantity, rather than to improve quality.

REFERENCES

Decree (2003) on management of ELVs and Decree on tax on ELVs, Off.J.Rep.Slovenia 13/03
DIN (1984) Bestimmung der Eluirbarkeit mit Wasser, 38414-S4, Deutsches Institut fűr
Normung, Berlin
Regulation (1998) on waste management, Off.J.RS 84/98
Regulation (2000) on waste disposal, Off.J.RS 5/00
Decree (1996) of import, export and transit of waste, Off.J.Rep.Slovenia 39/96
Directive (2000) End-of-Life-Vehicles Directive, 2000/53/EC, September 18
Strategy (1996) National waste management strategy of Slovenia, Ministry for Environment RS,
Stuecheli A. (2003) The value of recovered material and of shredder waste, Proc. Internat.
Automobile Recycling Congress, Geneva, 12-14.3.2003, 13 pp.
http://www.mnz.si - Ministry of the Interior Republic of Slovenia