Xu, G.; Yano, J.; Sakai, S. (2017) The 4th 3R International Scientific Conference on Material Cycles and Waste Management, pp. C-1-4
Abstract
To understand the collection of precious metals at vehicles' end-of-life period, this study consisted of two parts: building a model to estimate the precious metals in end-of-life vehicles (ELVs) and developing a questionnaire survey to clarify current collection situation of precious metals at dismantling period. Five precious metals: Rh, Pd, Pt, Au and Ag were considered.
The results show that hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) contain the most of precious metals, the content reaches to about 5.7 g and it is followed by conventional vehicles (CVs), 4.4 g and electric vehicles (EVs), 1.1 g. Printed circuit boards (PCBs) from Anti-lock braking system (ABS) computer, audio system, car navigation system and inverter controller, catalyst from catalytic converter and cells from nickel metal hydride (NiMH) battery were identified as six main carriers of precious metals. Under current ELVs dismantling process, collecting the main carriers is equivalent to obtain 63-86% (Min-Max), 61-82% and 11- 23% of precious metals in CVs, HEVs and EVs, the rest goes in automobile shredder residue (ASR).