Material Flow Analysis of End-of-Life Vehicles in South Korea

Sora Yi,Hi Sun Lee 대한환경공학회 2023 Environmental Engineering Research Vol.28 No.4

The increase in end-of-life vehicles (ELVs) has highlighted the need for more advanced ELV dismantling and recycling processes. To understand the flow of ELVs after disposal, this study conducted a material flow analysis of ELVs by dividing the ELV recycling process into the stages of discarding, collection, treatment, resource recovery, and sales/export. According to our analysis, the recycling rate of ELVs in South Korea was 88.7%. Losses in liquid waste, airbags, waste refrigerants occurred due to their destruction or releasement into the atmosphere during the recycling process, and losses in the heat energy produced by formal sectors occurred at the final stage of ELV recycling. Valuable scrap metal, reusable parts, and ferrous and nonferrous metals were relatively well-recycled, pointing to the need to promote the recycling of less valuable materials, such as plastic, glass, rubber, and sheet foam. Metals recovered through shredding and automotive shredder residue (ASR) recycling are sold to steel mills and refineries, and the heat energy recovered through ASR recycling is supplied to nearby industrial facilities. Additional material flow analysis of ELVs will help identify the obstacles hindering the improvement of Korea’s ELV recycling rate and develop appropriate policies.

Material Flow Analysis of End-of-Life Vehicles in Korea

( Sora Yi ),( Hisun Lee ) 한국폐기물자원순환학회(구 한국폐기물학회) 2019 ISSE 초록집 Vol.2019 No.-

The increase in the number of end-of-life vehicles (ELVs) has led to environmental problems from the ELV dismantling and recycling process such as improperly discarded wastes and wastewater discharge into nearby rivers. In this study, a waste resource flow analysis was conducted to identify the recoverable valuable resources and environmentally-detrimental residues in the ELV recycling process. The waste resource flow analysis looks at the lifespan of a product after it is discarded. In this study, the lifespan of ELVs was divided into five stages: discarding-collection/disposal-pretreatment-resource recovery-sale/export. Understanding the flow of the product after disposal, as opposed to the flow of each material, can be vital to the improvement of resource circulation, and thus, this study analyzed the flow of recoverable resources and the treatment of residues after each stage of resource recovery. The analysis showed that the recycling rate of ELVs was 88.7%. The residues remaining at the final stage of ELV recycling was the loss of the heat energy produced from formal sectors and final sludge, while losses in liquid waste, airbags, waste refrigerants due to destruction or releasement into the atmosphere during the recycling process were also found to occur. Valuable metal scraps, reusable parts, and ferrous and nonferrous metals were relatively well-recycled in the resource recovery stage, thus, what was revealed to be necessary is a measure to promote the recycling of less valuable materials such as plastic, glass, rubber, and sheet foam. Ferrous and nonferrous metals recovered through shredding or recycled automotive shredder residue (ASR) were being sold to steel refining and production companies, and the heat energy recovered through ASR recycling was being supplied to nearby industrial facilities. Further studies employing the waste resource flow analysis on ELV vehicles will help to identify the obstacles hindering the improvement of their recycling rate and to develop appropriate policy measures.

Policies to Promote Resource Circulation through an Economic Analysis of End-of-Life Vehicles in Korea

( Sora Yi ),( Hisun Lee ) 한국폐기물자원순환학회(구 한국폐기물학회) 2019 ISSE 초록집 Vol.2019 No.-

There are four stages in the end-of-life vehicle (ELV) recycling process: dismantling, crushing, shredding, and waste gas treatment. Since the materials that can be recycled and treated differ by stage, an analysis on the economic value of the resources recovered at each stage of the ELV recycling process can enable important insights into the problems and appropriate treatment methods for recovering resources by stage. In this study, we reviewed the characteristics of the recycling policies adopted domestically and abroad to explore how Korea’s ELV recycling policy can be refined. An economic analysis of the ELV recycling process was performed to determine the specific policy measures for promoting the circulation of resources from ELVs. The analysis revealed that dismantling accounted for the largest portion in the ELV recycling process in Korea, which points to the need for policies providing financial support toward improving the ELV recycling rate by maximizing the efficiency of dismantling. Financial aid for dismantling companies was assessed to be the key for enhancing the dismantle of ELVs, and institutional measures should be prepared to promote the recycling of ELVs performed by dismantlers. There is also a present need for diversifying the treatment methods for recycled automotive shredder residue (ASR) at the post-dismantling stage as a means to expand ELV recycling. Placing a greater weight on the shredding stage of the ELV recycling process can be a way to reduce the current reliance on dismantling and increase the recycling of non-ferrous metals. However, institutional or financial support will be essential to assist with the initial investment costs for developing ASR treatment technologies and constructing new facilities.

Environmental and economic evaluations for the various treatment options of food waste and human excrement

( Sora Yi ),( Kee-young Yoo ) 한국폐기물자원순환학회 2023 I-CIPEC Vol.2012 No.0

This study suggested environmental and economic evaluations by developing a scenario according to the various treatment options of food waste and especially, evaluated the possibility about the combined treatment of food waste and human excrement after using food waste disposers. It has found that the scenarios including only composting or only disposer was superior to the other scenarios in the environmental aspect and the scenario including only composting was superior to the other scenarios in the economic aspect. But it has found that 52% of green-house gas emission was reduced if sewage pretreatment in houses after using food waste disposers was done and biogas is collected and utilized in the private power station on site. As the value of domestic labor about handling and separation of the food waste gets higher, the scenario which utilizes disposers was more superior to directly handling of the food waste using elevators which takes so long to do it. And it has found that the saving effect of the environmental aspect was higher than the one of the economic aspect.

Life cycle impact assessment and interpretation of municipal solid waste management scenarios based on the midpoint and endpoint approaches

Yi, Sora,Kurisu, Kiyo H.,Hanaki, Keisuke Springer-Verlag 2011 The international journal of life cycle assessment Vol.16 No.7

Evaluation of the Eco-Efficiency according t Waste Treatment Methods

Sora Yi 대한환경공학회 2019 대한환경공학회 학술발표논문집 Vol.2019 No.-

An Action Plan for Resource Circulation: The Case of Jeju, South Korea

( Sora Yi ),( Sujeong Kang ) 한국폐기물자원순환학회 2022 ISSE 초록집 Vol.2022 No.-

This study discusses the outcomes of the resource circulation action plan implemented at the local government-level in South Korea in accordance with higher-level plans, such as the Basic Plan on Resource Circulation. The action plan sets forth goals and targets for resource circulation based on the circumstances of the local situation and establishes detailed tasks to be implemented for each of the four stages of resource circulation: production, consumption, waste management, and recovery. Then, the progresses made in the four stages are evaluated, which are considered in setting the tasks for the next five years. This study presents the case of Jeju Island, a special self-governing province in South Korea, where the first resource circulation action plan was implemented from 2018 to 2022. The performance evaluation of the detailed tasks set out by the action plan showed that the Jeju local government was able to reach near the goals and targets by continuously implementing various policies for each stage of resource circulation. Although some of the projects related to the production stage were not very effective, significant performance was achieved overall. The addition of more projects following the circular economy model projects will contribute to increasing the performance in this stage. The performance in the consumption stage was excellent overall, but there require more detailed projects that engage voluntary participation from the consumers. In the management stage, projects, such as the Clean House system, the enforcement of designated days of the week for waste discharge and collection by type, and recycling help-centers, have been running smoothly, with notable progress made in constructing recycling sorting facilities, biogasification facilities, and the new incineration facility in Seogwipo. In the recovery stage, the performance in energy and resource recovery is low at present, but it is expected to rise significantly when the resource circulation cluster and biogasification facilities are completed in the future.

An Integrated Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage Process for Combined Heat and Power Facilities: A Life Cycle Assessment

( Sora Yi ),( Changsik Choi ) 한국폐기물자원순환학회 2022 ISSE 초록집 Vol.2022 No.-

This study performs a life cycle assessment (LCA) of a newly developed integrated carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) process for combined heat and power (CHP) facilities. This integrated CCUS process incorporates advanced technologies to each stage of CCUS at CHP plants: an advanced flue gas supply system → CO₂ biomass production → CO₂ capture using membranes → CO2 storage by mineral carbonation. The greenhouse gas emissions and offsetting effect (i.e., resource recovery and carbon capture amount) of each stage was assessed to analyze the total amount of greenhouse gas emission from a life cycle perspective. In the case of the integrated process, the LCA showed that this integrated CCUS process resulted in -745 kg CO2 eq/ton of greenhouse gases, which is superior to the greenhouse gas reduction effects of individual technologies reported by previous research. The integrated CCUS process was also found to reduce greenhouse gas emissions significantly compared to existing technologies in the assessment based on energy consumption: while existing carbon capture technology is reported to emit 798 kg CO₂ eq/ton of greenhouse gases to remove 1 ton of CO₂, the integrated CCUS process emitted 356 kg CO₂ eq/ton to capture 1 ton of CO₂ and converts it into resources, reducing the amount of greenhouse gas emissions to 44.6%.

Life Cycle Assessment of Solid Refuse Fuel Production from MSW in Korea

( Sora Yi ),( Yong-chul Jang ) 한국폐기물자원순환학회(구 한국폐기물학회) 2015 한국폐기물자원순환학회 3RINCs초록집 Vol.2015 No.-

Korea Government plans to increase drastically SRF plants from current 1,360 ton/day to 14,865 ton/day till 2020. The purposes of this study are to analyze the flow of materials and energy and to evaluate SRF plants using LCA and compare them with a incineration plant. As the results of material and energy flow analysis, SRF products had the various energy potentials depending on the MSW composition and replaced other fossil fuels by SRF combustion. Global impacts were mainly influenced by energy consumption, especially drying methods in SRF production and affected the weighting analysis as key factors. The SRF plant with the bio-drying option was evaluated as the best effective practice.

Disaster Waste Management: The Partnership and Role at International and Local Government Levels

( Sora Yi ),( Yong-chul Jang ) 한국폐기물자원순환학회(구 한국폐기물학회) 2014 한국폐기물자원순환학회 심포지움 Vol.2014 No.1

The Philippines is one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world, experiencing an average of 20 typhoons per year. More than 3 months have passed since 8 November 2013, when category 5 Typhoon Yolanda (locally known) and Haiyan (internationally known) made landfall, causing extensive damage to life, housing, livelihoods and infrastructure across nine of the Philippine’s poorest provinces. Rain fell at rates of up to 30 mm per hour, winds reached upwards of 315 km/h and massive storm surges up to 5-6 meters high hit coastal areas. The islands of Leyte and Samar were hardest hit: 90 percent of the infrastructure of Leyte’s largest urban center, Tacloban City, was destroyed. Estimation based on 20 m3 debris created in the typhoon per damaged house in each municipality: Basey (Western Samar) 234,000 m³, Guiuan 200,000 m³, Giporlos 56,000 m³, Hernani 38,000 m³ Estimated volume of solid waste produced per capita is 0.4 kg per capita. The solid waste composition is about 50 % biodegradable by weight about 25% recyclables and 25% residual waste. Large amounts of mud, clay and sand were moved by the storm surge that hit the eastern shores. This is the case for all the affected municipalities in the target area. The debris also consists of materials around the houses such as vegetation, broken trees, electrical cables, vehicles, etc.. A large amount of the debris is the broken houses, corrugated iron sheets, wood and destroyed interiors of dwellings. Estimate of health care waste in the Philippines is 0.3 kg per bed and day. The number of beds in the target areas is presently unknown. The health care waste consists of sharps, infectious waste, body parts, hazardous waste and general solid waste. There are very few engineered or sanitary landfills and material recovery facilities are generally in bad shape. Santo Niño dumpsite operation is currently being streamlined by UNDP, including heavy equipment. However, after UNDP pulls out, Tacloban City will need heavy equipment on site. Also, the municipal solid waste collection system of Tacloban City and other municipalities offer a potential for increased efficiency. There is a distinct potential for international government level in this field, as well as in collection vehicles, maintenance, waste logistics etc..