Recently, plastic composites consumption in automotive industry has experienced
a spectacular growth with many applications in interior, exterior and
under-hood components. Pressure in
fuel-efficient and low-polluting vehicles increases use of engineering plastics
to make lighter weight products (Bellmann 1999; Allred
2000)[
Marsh, 2003, Mann D., 1999]. Amount of plastic used in current average
automobile increased triple compared to those in 1975, with 14% to total
weight, approximately
145.2
kg per vehicle in 2005 (Fig. 1.1b). Consequently,
plastic waste from end-of-life of vehicles (ELV) becomes increase faster. In
Canada and United States, there are about 11 million of vehicles with 1.6
million tones of ELV plastic part were dump into a landfill each year [Duval,
2007; Mohanty]. While in UK, around 2 million of vehicles reach the end of
their life each year (Bismarck 2006).
 |
| Percentage of plastic components in each vehicle part to Total Plastic used |
 |
| Percentage of Material Relative to Total Weight [Source: http://www.research.bayer.com] |
The environmental awareness of the society has risen to the point that
plastic waste should be reduced protection of natural resources and reduction
CO2 emission. Plastics make up significant proportion of the volume
of domestic and industrial waste (10 - 30%), which degrade very slowly and
equally resistant to natural process [Arostegui et al, 2008; Kolybaba, 2003]. They
contain chemical substances that could present a hazard for the environment and
also need more energy to produce [Marsh, 2003; Rosa, 2001]. Accumulation of
plastic residue makes difficulty of water and oxygen to circulate and delays
living of organic matters that cause damage to the environment and all living
creatures.
Conventional method used as plastic waste reduction was disposal in land
fill sites. Nowadays, the focus is on the reuse and recycle of waste materials
because of ecological concern and limited space of land filling [Yoshioka et
al, 2008]. By 2015, European Commission (EC) through European Guideline
2005/53/EG obligates that vehicles should be constructed of 95% recyclable
materials with 85% recoverable through reuse or mechanical recycling (Ashori 2008). Even that reuse of plastic product could be
the most environment-friendly method; there should be further checking to make
sure that the material meets the required quality. Several problems also faced
in recycling, such as difficulty to recycle due to complex polymer structure,
loss of some advantageous properties and requirement of sophisticated
technology or greater energy (Bellmann 1999; Allred
2000; Ashori 2008);
Yoshioka et al, 2008; Selke, 2002]. Surveys in Germany have shown that
basically only around 40% of the plastics used in a vehicle are fit for
mechanical recycling (Bellmann 1999). Recycling conventional
plastic composites releases dust and hazardous gasses (CO2, NOx and
SOx) into the atmosphere.
To overcome those problems, the automotive industry
should seek more environmental friendly material to minimize the creation of
plastic waste. An innovative solution to the disposal of ELV plastic parts can
be the use of biodegradable plastic. They are environmental friendly, eliminate
hazardous substances into the soil and in the other hand provide appropriate
mechanical and physical properties (Bismarck 2006; Ashori 2008)[Environment
Australia, 2002; Malinconico, 2008]. Some
of them are made from renewable resources therefore reduce the emission of
hydrocarbon.
