Recycling and Material-Flow Analysis of End-of-Life Vehicles towards Resource Circulation in South Korea

Yong-Chul Jang, Kyunghoon Choi, Ji-hyun Jeong, Hyunhee Kim and Jong-Guk Kim
Additional contact information
Yong-Chul Jang: Department of Environmental Engineering, Chungnam National University, Daejeon 34134, Korea
Kyunghoon Choi: Department of Environmental Engineering, Chungnam National University, Daejeon 34134, Korea
Ji-hyun Jeong: Department of Environmental Engineering, Chungnam National University, Daejeon 34134, Korea
Hyunhee Kim: Department of Environmental Engineering, Chungnam National University, Daejeon 34134, Korea
Jong-Guk Kim: Department of Environmental Engineering, Jeonbuk National University, Jeonju 54896, Korea

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 3, 1-14

Abstract: The sustainable resource management of end-of-life vehicles (ELVs) towards a circular economy has become an issue of concern around the world. An understanding of recycling and the quantitative flow of ELVs is important because of their potential for resource recovery as well as the environmental impacts posed by their toxic chemicals upon disposal. In this paper, the generation and recycling system of ELVs in South Korea has been discussed based on a review of the available statistics and literature and site visits to ELV-recycling facilities. A material-flow analysis (MFA) for ELVs was performed to elucidate the resource recovery from recycling, while the substance flow of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in automobile shredded residues (ASR) was also determined for proper management. Approximately one million tons of ELVs in 2020 were processed by dismantling and shredding treatment for the recovery of reusable and recyclable materials (803,000 tons), resulting in 78,300 tons of ASR. Approximately 97 tons of PBDEs as flame retardants were generated mainly from ASR in 2020 and processed via combustion, either with energy recovery (59.8%) or without heat recovery (39.2%). The monitoring of brominated dioxins and furans by unintentional release during the incineration processes of ASR is required in order to prevent the dispersion of the chemicals in the environment.

Keywords: end-of-life vehicles; recycling; material-flow analysis; polybrominated biphenyl ethers; automobile shredder residue (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/3/1270/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/3/1270/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:3:p:1270-:d:731703

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().