Recycling of electric components from passenger vehicles (EVA)

Modern cars contain an increasing amount of embedded electrical and electronic devices, which in turn contain substantial amounts of scarce technology metals (STMs), such as neodymium, gold and palladium. In the current situation, those electrical and electronic devices usually end up in car shredders. In the shredder process, STMs tend to concentrate in the shredder light fraction and are eventually lost when it is incinerated.

In the ongoing revision of the Swiss ordinance on the take-back and treatment of electrical and electronic devices (VREG), it is proposed to mandate the separate collection and treatment of embedded electrical and electronic devices in cars, when this is "economically and ecologically meaningful".

The project EVA I (2014-2018) was established to generate new knowledge on the life cycle of embedded car electronics in Switzerland and thereby support the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) in defining the new regulatory framework for end-of-life manageent of car electronics. In particular, the project focused on the quantification of mass flows, using a variety of experiments, modelling and databases in collaboration with industry stakeholders.

The ongoing follow-up project EVA II (2019-2021) will provide concrete suggestions for devices to be mandatorily dismantled, and will support establishing a system for continuously monitoring the life cycle of embedded electronics and their STM content in cars. The monitoring system will be designed to quantify the effects of implemented changes in the management of end-of-life car electronics.

See also: 

  • Summary report of EVA I (in German)
  • Ordinance on the take-back and treatment of electrical and electronic devices (VREG)
  • Draft new ordinance on the take-back and treatment of electrical and electronic devices (VREG)
Contact
Heinz Böni
Empa
Technology & Society Laboratory
Lerchenfeldstrasse 5
9014 St. Gallen
Tel. +41 58 765 78 58

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