Mandate Recyclable Cars?

Good grief NO!

Although the prez could claim the position of 'car recycling czar' and all the million people the department would require for staff as'green jobs'.

The mandates in place now are generally a disaster - this would set a new record for stupidity though I believe.

Let's see here.

This would be mandated by the same people that dreamed up the cash for clunkers program, right?

The program that mandated that cars that ran fine, be purposely turned into junk when turned in?

I don't think so..........................sounds like a good way to make things more difficult on the automakers though................who knows, maybe kill some jobs in the process.

"Just what constitutes sustainability in cars?" Which sustainability are we talking about here?

I dug into definitions and I found two that were somewhat in conflict. The following links are worth a read if you want to understand where I'm coming from.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainability

http://www.epa.gov/sustainability/basicinfo.htm

We need to understand which sustainability we are interested in. The Earth? The Human race? The USA and its allies/friends? The USA as a nation? The USA as a confederation of sovereign states? The people of the USA? The USA, an economic entity? Corporate America and its equity holders? The automobile companies and their shareholders?

If you buy into the EPA position (to me a logical political position) it seems that continued production of volumes of new automobiles is of primary importance to economic sustainability. And we shall throw a crumb to the environmentalists by seeking to make automobiles as recyclable as possible supposedly to reduce the net energy and raw materials draw and environmental impact per car.

But perhaps we should give less importance to automobile companies' shareholder equity value and more importance to some broader entity suggested above.

I submit that perhaps we should have automobiles that last longer and for which recycleability of the bulk of materials in the machine becomes a minor issue. Rather we make them practical to repair and modify for improved efficiency and performance, lower pollutant outputs, and adaptation to current uses. Our homes are built that way. Why not our cars? Why is it we have to throw away a perfectly good modern automobile because it is not worth spending $3000 for a circuit board that cost $150 to manufacture?

Oh yes, we can recite a litany of reasons for continuing need to produce millions of ever newer and "better" automobiles. But perhaps the issue of which sustainability is most important ought to be looked at objectively.

Ed Weldon

Supporting the consumer society that the entire economy is built on?

Funny money must be created in order to fuel the economic machine - that is all that counts to most and to the politicians for sure.

If an engineering solution could be arrived at for recyclable content then maybe - but that is not what it would be. The result would be a political solution framed to suit the needs of the party in power.

As far as repairing your car - that time past many years back - same as for most household items.

The future of the country has been and is continuing to be sold in order to create jobs and provide the ever increasing standard of living people have been led to believe is their 'right' - all the while ignoring the world as a whole.

An entire class of people better practice rag picking as that will be their future. Unions work to insure this.

Good point Ed.

40-50 years ago and before, almost everything could be repaired. Not only did everything last a lot longer, but the fact that things could be fixed, created jobs. We had appliance repair shops, small engine repair shops, sewing machine repair shops, etc., and parts for everything were plentiful and relatively inexpensive. That's my idea of sustainability.

We've completely moved away from all of that.

Cars now are made out of metal and plastic. A mandate will accomplish nothing but to create more government jobs to oversee the mandate.

One nice thing about today's throw away society. It creates a situation where people like me can really capitalize. Most of the big ticket items that I own are used. Cars, appliances, furniture, shop tools, stereo equipment.....................................all for pennies on the dollar. They look and work fine.

Even without laws mandating recyclable content

What?! Are you serious?

There have been laws mandating the the recyclable content of cars for at least 15 years to my knowledge - at least here in Europe. When I worked at Ford (UK) 15 years ago, there was a lot of work going into how all parts of the cars could be recycled at the end of their life and what the products would be. There are also laws on how much recycled material goes into the vehicles.

Refs: http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/business/regulation/31887.aspx

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/End_of_Life_Vehicles_Directive

http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/elv_index.htm

Is this another example of Europe leading and the USA finally waking up? Let us know if you want tips on building fuel efficient, low CO₂ producing cars...

Europe has a lot of rules - just that no one follows them.

Here on the west coast of Turkey we catch all the air pollution blown in from Europe.

The car sold in the UK differs from that sold in the US as far as materials go? No.

The EU does lead on talking - I do have to admit.

The car sold in the UK differs from that sold in the US as far as materials go?

Oh yes it does! The cars in the UK / Europe are designed here, built here and sourced here. They are quite different from their US counterparts. The companies do follow the rules - I used to work for Uncle Henry and there was a team looking at the inclusion of recycled materials to meet legislative requirements.

The Vehicle End of Life requirements are in place and will be enforced. The RoHS and WEEE regulations have to be followed.

All the regulations are brought together under 70/156/EEC and a company can't put a car on the market without the complete Type Approval.

Yes the EU does a lot of talking, but in some areas it does a lot of good action too.

All vehicles in the UK are recycleable 100%, except those with a carbon fibre body. The green issue is very important, as our resources are diminishing at a fast rate, and in the UK just about everything is recycleable these days, and the savings are enormous! Even the tyres are recycled, shredded and used on the road surface.

Spencer.

Market forces or mandate? Ideals & Action. You know the way it should be.

We all consume, slowly we learn to omprove our sustaining ways::as we strip the Earths' resources.

My very first 'paid-job' as a grubby ignorant teenager [51 years ago] was "wrecking cars" or dismanteling them for spares & scrap. Very labour intensive, also quite effective.

I remember using a 'sledge-hammer' to crack open gearboxes for the steel gears & the Al into it's bin, copper in another plus lead & brass.This way I learned car mecanics & didn't have to put it together.

In fact my very first "toy" was a Lancaster bomber, abandoned shortly after that war,just great for a kid, until a year later I saw it chopped up thrown in a barge off to the melter. Chopped by axe by it's jagged edges appearence, before the days of angle-grinders & hydraulic shears. Yes this recycling is not new.

In my place I have bins for steel/Cu/Al/Brass/Lead/glass/paper/trash : now & then I go to my friendly local scrappie ; chuck it in & collect some cash [or scrounge something useful]

Easily accessed scrap bins in each locality, with education of how & why we could recycle is 'the go'!

Teenagers taking cars to bits ??

"Creation is only the projection into form of that which already exists" {{Shrimad Bagavatam}}