Environmental Comparisons of Steel
and Plastic Automotive Fuel Tanks
Peter R. Mould
Program Manager
Strategic Alliance for Steel Fuel Tanks
(SASFT)
Presentation to Great Designs in Steel Seminar (GDISS)
Livonia, MI
March 9, 2005
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INTRODUCTION
Automobile
Fuel Tanks
● ● ● Competitive
issues between steel and plastic
y Engineering performance
— structural, fatigue, etc.
y
y
y
y
Weight
Design flexibility
Cost
Full service supply
AND
Environmental
issues
Today’s
focus
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INTRODUCTION
Environmental benefits of
steel fuel tanks
y Proven recyclability
y Low evaporative system emissions
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RECYCLING OVERVIEW
Recycling of
a Typical
Automobile
● ● ● 1999
study by Steel Recycling Institute
— Model year 1980 - 1990
— Average vehicle weight: 3,252 pounds
— Based on survey of auto dismantlers and shredders and
American Metal Market automobile materials data
Plastic**
(212#)
Steel*
(2324#)
120
120
100%
99.9%
100
100
80
80
60
60
40
40
20
20
0%
0.1%
0
0
RECYCLED
LANDFILLED
*includes steel tanks
RECYCLED
**almost no plastic tanks
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LANDFILLED
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RECYCLING
— STEEL TANKS
Recycling
TODAY steel fuel tanks are fully recycled
●●●
Dismantled
Re-use
option
Hulk
Infrastructure
in place
Scrap
option
Crushing
Shredding
of hulk
Specific parts
inc. tanks
“Fluff”
No value
About 40% plastic
Landfilled
Other Metals
25 to 75%
recycled
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Tanks
Crushing,
Bailing,
Shredding
Steel Recycled
99.9% returned as
scrap to steel mills
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RECYCLING
— PLASTIC TANKS
Recycling
TODAY plastic tanks are NOT re-used or recycled
●●●
Dismantled
plastic tank
Absorbed gasoline in wall of tank
Complicated recycling
High cost
Hazard in shredding
Hazard in
re-use
Landfill
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CONSEQUENCES
Consequence of
more plastic tanks ● ● ●
f
Increased disposal of plastic tanks at
end of life of automobiles
— landfill
— incineration
f
Negative impact on existing automotive
recycling infrastructure
— dismantlers
— shredders
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CONSEQUENCES
Plastic
tank
vehicles
in NA, %
100
90
82
80
80
Source: ITB Group
70
60
As plastic tanks
increase — impact on
disposal will increase
60
50
40
40
30
25
20
10
0
90
92
94
96
98
Model Year
00
02
04
06
08
No. of EOL plastic tanks in NA, millions
average vehicle
life of 14 yrs.
20
16.6
15.5
16
11.5
12
8
6.9
4.1
4
0
4
6
8
10
12
14
Year
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18
20
8
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IMPACT
The full impact
of plastic fuel
tanks
In North America ● ● ●
― 254 million vehicles on the road
― If 80% of vehicles have plastic tanks
when vehicles are retired ● ● ●
Plastic tanks placed end-to-end would stretch:
―125,000 miles
―5 times around the world
●●●
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IMPACT
If landfilled
●●●
a mountain of plastic tanks.
1300 ft.
1300 ft.
●●●
or Incinerate?
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PILOT PROCESS FOR
PLASTIC TANKS
Pilot processes for
plastic tanks are
being developed
Example: RECAFUTA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Partnership: Solvay, Inergy, Watco,
Renault, Ciba, and
University of Lisbon
Co-financed: European Commission
Source:
Solvay website
Technically feasible:
BUT . . . high cost
. . . no commercial
infrastructure
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COMPARISION OF RECYCLING
Plastic Fuel Tanks
Steel Fuel Tanks
Tank
Manufacturing
Steel
processing
Tank
Manufacturing
Compounding
Assembly
on
Vehicle
HDPE
EOL
Feedstocks
Steel refining
Assembly
on
Vehicle
Iron
and
Steel Scrap
Dismantling
Dismantling
BROKEN LOOP
EOL
CLOSED LOOP
Deserving of…..
DISPOSAL
…..recycling emblem
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PROBLEM AND SOLUTION
Implication
●●●
PLASTIC FROM SHREDDED HULKS
+
PLASTIC FUEL TANKS
Current burden
on recycling industry
Increasing burden on
recycling industry in the
future
● Disposal problem
● Jeopardizes current
auto recycling process
Solution
●●●
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Steel
tanks
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EVAPORATIVE EMISSIONS
Vehicle
Emissions
California
Air Resources
Board (CARB)
● ● ● Lower evaporative emissions required to reduce air
pollution.
● ● ● ● ● stringent requirements for certification of
gasoline powered autos
y Low EXHAUST emissions
y Low EVAPORATIVE emissions
«
y DURABLE
(15 years or 150,000 miles)
All required for
certification as a
Partial Zero Emission
Vehicle (PZEV)
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EVAPORATIVE EMISSIONS
Evaporative
Emissions
HDPE PLASTIC TANKS
Permeable
to gasoline hydrocarbons
STEEL TANKS
Impermeable
to gasoline hydrocarbons
Key Requirement
Partial Zero Emission Vehicle (PZEV)
certification by
California Air Resources Board (CARB)
No PZEV certifications
for plastic tank vehicles
Multiple PZEV certifications
for steel tank vehicles
Steel is the material
of choice for tanks
on PZEV vehicles
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EVAPORATIVE EMISSIONS
Steel Fuel Tanks . . .
the choice for PZEV
vehicles
Company
Ford
Model Year
CARB PZEV certified vehicles for 2005
Model Name/Type
Emission Rating
Tank Material
2005
2005
Escape – Hybrid
Focus – Wagon
- 2X3
- 2X4
- 2X5
ATPZEV
PZEV
PZEV
PZEV
PZEV
Steel
Steel
Steel
Steel
Steel
2004
2004
Sebring – Sedan
Stratus – Sedan
PZEV
PZEV
Steel
Steel
2005
2005
2005
325CI – Coupe
325I – Sedan
325I - Wagon
PZEV
PZEV
PZEV
Steel
Steel
Steel
2004
2004
2004
Civic – Hybrid
Accord – EX Sedan
Accord – LX Sedan
ATPZEV
PZEV
PZEV
Steel
Steel
Steel
2005
Elantra – GLS & GT
PZEV
Steel
2004
Mazda 3
PZEV
Steel
2004
Galant DE & ES2.4L
PZEV
Steel
2004
2004
Altima 2.5, 2.55, 2.55L
Sentra 1.8, 1.85
PZEV
PZEV
Steel
Steel
2004
2004
2004
2004
2004
2004
Legacy 2.5 GT Sedan
Legacy 2.5 GT Wagon
Legacy L Sedan
Legacy L Wagon
Outback Ltd Sedan
Outback Ltd Wagon
PZEV
PZEV
PZEV
PZEV
PZEV
PZEV
Steel
Steel
Steel
Steel
Steel
Steel
2004
2004
Camry LE, SE or XLE
Prius - Hybrid
PZEV
ATPZEV
2004
Jetta – Sedan GL/GLS 2.0
PZEV
Steel
2004
2004
S60 2.4 Sesdan
V70 2.4 Wagon
PZEV
PZEV
Steel
Steel
DaimlerChrysler
BMW
California Air Resources Board:
― Certified gasoline PZEV models
● 14 in 2003
● 23 in 2004
● 29 in 2005
Honda
Hyundai
Mazda
Mitsubishi
Nissan
Subaru
Toyota
Steel
Steel / plastic
bladder
Volkswagen
Volvo
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EVAPORATIVE EMISSIONS
PZEV – most important for California vehicle sales
Vehicle
sales
per year
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EVAPORATIVE EMISSIONS
Other states to follow California requirements
● ● ● will increase PZEV vehicles
2
1.8
Vehicle
1.6
sales
per year
1.4
(millions)
Other States
California
1.2
1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Year
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OVERVIEW
Overview
Comparison
Plastic Tanks
Steel Tanks
Recycling
Process
y Pilot process demonstrated in
Europe.
y Economically unfeasible to
recycle.
y No infrastructure in place .
y Existing auto recycling infrastructure.
y Effectiveness of infrastructure jeopardized by growth
of plastics .
Recycling Cost
y Cost for disposal
— Landfill
— Incineration
y Recycling is profitable and sustaining.
CARB
Evaporative
Emissions
Standards
y No certified PZEV vehicles
having plastic tanks.
y Multiple certified PZEV vehicles having steel tanks
y Broader application of CARB standards in the future?
Green steel . . .
. . . clean cars
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SUMMARY
Summary
●
Steel fuel tanks for automobiles have environmental advantages
—
—
●
proven recycling using an existing, for profit infrastructure
able to provide low evaporative emissions
Continued growth of plastic fuel tanks will
—
—
—
●
jeopardize the existing automotive recycling process
require substantial landfill or incineration
incur end-of-life costs
SASFT and AISI will continue to communicate the environmental
benefits of steel fuel tanks
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w w w . a u t o s t e e l . o r g
Great Designs in Steel is Sponsored by:
•AK Steel Corporation
•Mittal Steel Company •Severstal North America Inc.
•Dofasco Inc.
w w•Nucor
w . aCorporation
u t o s t e e l •United
. o r g States Steel Corporation
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