Tracking effective measures for closed-loop recycling of automobile steel in China |
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Institution: | 1. LBE, Montpellier SupAgro, INRA, Univ Montpellier, Montpellier, France;2. Elsa, Research group for Environmental Lifecycle and Sustainability Assessment, Montpellier, France;3. Sustainable Engineering, Technische Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany;4. Institute of Environmental Sciences (CML), Department of Industrial Ecology, Leiden University, Einsteinweg 2, 2333 CC Leiden, the Netherlands;5. Department of Econometrics and Operations Research, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1105, 1081 HV Amsterdam, the Netherlands |
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Abstract: | Closed-loop recycling of steel in automobiles is particularly difficult because of the low tolerance for impurities and the use of composites of various types of steel products. Technologies that reduce impurities or increase impurity tolerance must be developed and introduced to the steel recycling system at the appropriate time. This study evaluated the feasibility of closed-loop recycling in the automobile industry in China. Material pinch analysis combined with dynamic modeling of the life cycle of steel sheets used in the manufacture of automobiles was employed to estimate the amount of steel sheet scrap available for closed-loop recycling and the amount of copper contamination in the scrap. The results indicate that by 2050, more than half of the old steel sheet scrap generated annually will have to be down-cycled because of its high copper contamination. However, scenario analyses of three types of technologies for mitigating the problem of copper contamination showed the potential for increasing the amount of old scrap used in closed-loop recycling. In particular, improving copper tolerance in the steel production process could be effective both now and in 2050. |
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Keywords: | Material flow analysis Material pinch analysis Copper contamination Steel sheet production End-of-life vehicle scrap China |
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