Recycling
-
Cars could soon provide a solution to one of the world's biggest environmental problems, not just contribute to them. Cars, or at least the roads they drive on, could provide a much needed outlet for tons of recycled plastics that currently have no place else to go. According to the EPA, the U.S. produces about 14 million tons of plastic waste a year, and 91 percent of it is not recycled, according to National Geographic. The problem was compounded dramatically last year when China stopped buying plastic waste from the U.S. Previously China bought about 45 percent of the world's plastic...
-
Nissan begins offering rebuilt Leaf battery packs
Starting this month, Nissan has begun offering rebuilt battery packs for the older Leafs, filling a gap for drivers of older cars whose packs have begun to run down. The company built a new facility in Japan to rebuild the packs, and will sell them for about $2,850 (based on the price in Japan)...
Eric C. Evarts -
Nissan Leaf refurbished batteries offered for older electric cars, in Japan
With more than 300,000 Nissan Leaf electric cars on the road, some more than six years old, battery degradation is becoming more and more of an issue. The different rates of capacity loss are a topic of much discussion among Leaf owners, but it now seems likely that Nissan's choice of passive air...
John Voelcker -
Nissan, Sumitomo open electric-car battery recycling plant in Japan
The town of Namie, in eastern Japan, was devastated by the earthquake and tsunami of 2011, and has struggled to recover from the devastation of that day. Almost seven years later, the first new plant in town is set to open, one contributing to clean energy and zero-emission vehicles to boot...
John Voelcker -
Used electric-car batteries should be recycled, not reused: report
A new report claims reuse of electric-car batteries for energy storage is inefficient.
Stephen Edelstein -
Batteries from junkyard scrap metal and household chemicals?
Researchers at Vanderbilt University say they've made a battery using scrap steel and brass.
Stephen Edelstein -
Ford uses a "closed-loop" recycling system that takes scrap material from its Dearborn Stamping Plant.
-
Yesterday's hybrid car is tomorrow's Energizer battery
Energizer uses material from hybrid-car battery packs in its household batteries.
Stephen Edelstein -
Used Toyota Hybrid Batteries Repurposed At Yellowstone National Park
Toyota Camry Hybrid battery packs will be used to store power from solar panels at Yellowstone National Park.
Stephen Edelstein -
Electric-Car Batteries: What Happens To Them After Coming Out Of The Car?
It's one of the recurring questions asked by electric-car skeptics: Yeah, but what about all those battery packs? Won't they just end up in landfills? We know already that the 12-Volt lead-acid car battery appears to be the most-recycled consumer good in the world--though that's largely for safety...
John Voelcker -
Nissan Leaf Video Highlights Use Of Recycled Materials
As you drive your shiny new Nissan Leaf out of the dealership in silence and zero-emissions cleanliness, it's easy to forget all the resources and energy that have gone into building it. Those are a necessary evil as far as car production goes, but companies like Nissan are doing their best to...
Antony Ingram -
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Perfection? 1966 Volvo Nears 3 Million Miles
One of the more familiar perceptions of green vehicles is that the energy they require to build outweighs any benefits they may have in use. The reality couldn't be more different, but there's still plenty to be said for getting the most out of the car you have, and extending its usable life. Some...
Antony Ingram -
A popular myth among detractors of hybrid and electric vehicles is that the energy and materials that go into making batteries far outweighs any good they do under ownership. Batteries aren't as damaging as many suspect though, since so many of a battery's components can be recycled. Honda is doing just that with the nickel-metal hydride batteries found in its hybrid vehicles. Since the first Honda hybrid, the Insight launched in 1999, Honda has used nickel-metal hydride chemistry in its batteries. The company has only recently changed to lithium ion with the 2013 CR-Z and new Accord Hybrid...
-
Trees For Trade-Ins Programs Junk Gas Guzzlers, Plant Trees
A new scheme in the UK offers to plant dozens of trees whenever someone recycles their old car through the program. Called "Scrap Car, Plant Tree", it's aimed at getting people to donate their old, inefficient vehicles to raise money for the creation of inner-city "green spaces". According to...
Antony Ingram -
Bridgestone Pledges One-For-One Old Tire Reuse Or Recycling
Old cars get crushed and torn into steel scraps for reuse, car batteries are the most recycled consumer good, but old tires are still a recycling challenge. Now, tire company Bridgestone Americas has launched a new program "designed to eventually assure" [sic] that for every tire the company sells...
John Voelcker -
Honda Starts Hybrid Battery Pack Rare Earth Metal Recycling
Over the past few decades, demand for rare earth metals, has dramatically increased. So called because they are difficult to find in large deposits and often difficult to mine, rare earth metals are used in everything from electronics devices to hybrid and electric car battery packs. Now increased...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Will Old Electric-Car Battery Packs Cause Horrible Pollution?
It's an assertion that comes up a lot in comments on our stories. It goes, essentially, like this: No one recognizes the horrible pollution problems that will arrive when hybrid and electric cars are junked, and their nickel-metal-hydride and lithium-ion battery packs go into landfills. It's a...
John Voelcker -
2012 Chevy Sonic Will Debut GM’s EcoLabel, But What Is It?
If you’ve purchased a new car in the U.S. over the past few years, the chances are you’ll be familiar with the gas mileage stickers that automakers are required by law to display in the window of each new car. But visit a Chevrolet dealer this year, and you’ll see 2012 Chevrolet...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Ask about green cars and most buyers think only of gas mileage. But there are other ways to make vehicles greener, including the use of renewable materials to replace petroleum-derived synthetic components. For its all-new 2013 Escape crossover, Ford has created door bolsters from a plant called kenaf. The bolsters, which insulate the interior from road noise, were made from oil-based resins in previous Escape models. Kenaf is a tropical plant in the hibiscus family, related to both cotton and okra. It most closely resembles bamboo. Its oil is widely used in the cosmetics industry, and its...
-
Nissan Examines Second Life For Used Leaf Battery Packs
In the aftermath of the last year’s devastating Japanese earthquake and tsunami, more impetus has been given to the idea of turning electric cars -- and their battery packs -- into emergency backup power systems. But now a new project has been set up to take the idea of using electric car...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Driving Green Means Not Changing Your Oil Until You Need To
When was the last time state tax dollars went toward telling you not to do something? Ads against drunk driving, certainly. Perhaps ads against smoking cigarettes. But now, California is embarking on a campaign to persuade its citizens not to change their oil so much. More modern motor oils, better...
John Voelcker -
What's Best For Old Electric-Car Batteries: Reuse Or Recycling?
A common misconception of electric cars and hybrid vehicles is that at the end of a short battery life, the remainder is dumped in landfill and contributes ever more pollution to the Earth. Of course, we know this to be incorrect. Not only are the more common lead acid batteries the world's most...
Antony Ingram -
A New Life On The Grid For Tired Chevy Volt Battery Packs?
GM is working with ABB Group to develop new ways to use partially depleted Volt battery packs. One promising idea involves using arrays of battery packs to feed power to the grid in times of need.
Kurt Ernst -
Recycling Used Oil Into Fresh, Clean Oil: Enterprise Signs On
Over the years, the norms around what to do with used oil have changed. Used to be you tossed it down the nearest drain. Then came recycling. As energy prices soared, using old oil as heating fuel in special-purpose space heaters arrived. Now, the loop has closed, and used oil can be considered...
John Voelcker