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Auto shredder residue recycling researched
by
Brian R. Hook 
Prototype recovers up to 60 percent
Automobile recyclers have long wondered what to do with
shredder residue, the leftover material that remains
after shredding vehicles and recovering the metals.
If research that is underway at Argonne National Laboratory
in Argonne, Illinois is commercialized, two potential
options for the nation’s shredder residue would
include turning foam into carpet padding and transforming
the plastics into battery trays.
“Up to 60 percent of the residue can be recovered
as usable materials,” said Bassam Jody, group
leader of the energy systems division at the research
lab.
With most of the shredder residue currently sent to
landfills, the United States generates around 5 million
tons of the leftover material annually, Jody estimates.
About 30 percent of the material, by weight, is polymers
and 10 percent is residual metals.
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