Automobiles
End-of-Life Recycling Law
•Registration year of Honda automobiles recycled in FY2007
Japan's End-of-Life Vehicle Recycling Law, enacted in January 2005, is intended to promote environmental conservation and the effective use of resources through measures that ensure the responsible and efficient recycling of end-of-life vehicles. Under the law, automakers are obliged to collect and properly dispose of the following three items:
•Fluorocarbons used as air conditioner refrigerants that would contribute to depletion of the ozone layer and global warming if released into the atmosphere;
•Airbags, which are difficult to dispose of because they contain explosive agents;
•Automobile shredder residue (ASR)—what remains after useable materials are extracted from end-of-life vehicles.
Complying with this law, Honda is optimizing recycling-oriented measures applied throughout the life cycle of the automobile, from development to disposal. A key challenge in automobile recycling is correctly tracking the number of automobiles that need to be recycled in a given year. The average product life of vehicles recycled in FY2007 is estimated at 12.9 years. The provisions of the End-of-Life Vehicle Recycling Law tend to motivate automakers to strive to extend the product life of vehicles.
Recycling Fees
Honda recycling fees cover the cost of properly disposing and recycling its products at minimal cost to the customer. We maintained our recycling fees at a reasonable level for FY2007 through efficient disposal of end-of-life vehicles.
Recycling of fluorocarbons, airbags and ASR
•Fluorocarbons
The system we have implemented for the disposal of fluorocarbons contained in automobile air conditioners is designed to prevent their release into the atmosphere, entrusting fluorocarbon recovery, transportation and disposal to the Japan Auto Recycling Partnership (JARP). Unfortunately, in FY2007 there were two incidents in which gas was emitted before its transfer to JARP, and one in which gas was emitted after the materials were transferred. Honda is treating these incidents with the utmost seriousness, and working closely with other automakers and JARP to put in place the measures necessary to prevent any future occurrence.
•Airbags
The recycling of inflators that activate airbags and pretensioners—essential automotive safety equipment—requires special procedures. There are two methods: (1) removing the unused inflators from the module before recycling them at designated facilities; and (2) deploying the airbags inside end-of-life vehicles and then recycling the used inflators. While ultimately entrusting the choice of method to the dismantling specialists, Honda is encouraging them to deploy airbags inside end-of-life vehicles. Approximately 83% of all airbags are now deployed inside end-of-life vehicles prior to recycling. We will continue to promote this method in cooperation with dismantling partners while continuing to refine the design of the equipment used in this method. Furthermore, all Honda vehicles from 1998 onward are designed with a system that facilitates simultaneous deployment of all airbags in a vehicle, as opposed to one-by-one deployment. Almost all Honda vehicles now on the road are equipped with this system, which significantly reduces the burden on dismantling companies. We are supporting ongoing improvements in the airbag and inflator collection and recycling processes in cooperation with JARP as we continue to entrust these processes to this organization.
•ASR
End-of-life vehicles are dismantled and shredded. Scrap metal is removed and what remains is automobile shredder residue (ASR). Automobile manufacturers are responsible for recycling ASR. For the efficient and reliable recycling of ASR, Honda has formed a partnership called the TH Team with Toyota, Daihatsu and Hino. Japan's End-of-Life Vehicle Recycling Law provides phased-in requirements for ASR recycling (a recycling rate of 30% by 2005, 50% by 2010 and 70% by 2015), and Honda is implementing the measures needed to comply with these criteria in advance of the deadlines. Thanks to the efforts of the TH Team, a number of problems at recycling facilities that led to temporary processing shutdowns were resolved, allowing processing to be restarted promptly and without any significant impact on performance. Through additional investment in facilities and implementation of full recycling* for more than 13.3% of end-of-life vehicles, we increased the ASR recycling rate as planned, reaching a rate of 68.6%.
* Recycling in which end-of-life vehicles are not shredded but dismantled into very fine pieces and fully recycled.
FY2007 Results
Japanese automakers have been complying with Japan's End-of-Life Vehicle Recycling Law since it was enacted January 1, 2005. In FY2007 3.57 million end-of-life vehicles were recycled and, according to the best available data, approximately 333,246 end-of-life Honda vehicles were shredded. The average service life of these automobiles was 12-13 years. The rate of installation of air conditioners on Honda automobiles has been increasing rapidly since 1989, and the rate for airbags has been increasing rapidly since 1991. Thus the recycling of end-of-life vehicles with air conditioners and airbags increased this year.
Trends in Recycling in FY2007
•Fluorocarbons
From April 2006 to March 2007 we recovered 77,420 kg of fluorocarbons from 249,158 end-of-life vehicles. Fluorocarbons accounted for 35% and HFC for 65% of the total fluorocarbons recovered. This shift in proportion of the two substances recovered-from 47% CFCs and 53% HFCs in the previous fiscal year-can be attributed to a changeover from CFC to HFC use in air conditioners. We received a total of ¥522,179,038 in deposits from customers for the recycling of fluorocarbons. We spent a total of ¥547,246,514 on this recycling, including internal costs, recording a deficit of ¥25,067,476, or approximately ¥101 per vehicle.
•Airbags
Among the end-of-life vehicles disposed of in FY2007, 77,699 vehicles were equipped with airbags. The increase of 55% over the previous year can be attributed to the rapid increase in vehicles that were equipped with airbags between 1991 and 1993. Airbags from 64,170 units (82.6% of these vehicles) were deployed before being removed from the vehicle. We also recovered 156,484 inflators. The average number of inflators per vehicle was two. The number of inflators recovered at designated collection sites totaled 23,951 units, and the total weight of inflators received by recycling facilities was 16,192kg. 15,238kg of inflators were recycled for a recycling rate of 94.1%. We thus exceeded the legally mandated recycling minimum level of 85%. We received ¥139,247,869 in deposits for recycling airbags and spent a total of ¥167,041,139, thus recording a deficit of ¥27,793,270, or approximately ¥358 per vehicle.
•ASR
We accepted 333,246 end-of-life vehicles destined for shredding and the shredder residue of 289,062 vehicles. 56,945 tons of residue were delivered to recycling facilities, where 43,693 tons were actually recycled, for an ASR recycling rate of 68.6%.
As planned, our recycling rate is increasing and we are reaching targets in advance of legally mandated standards.
We received ¥1,955,838,038 in deposits from customers for recycling ASR and spent a total of ¥1,915,981,327 on recycling, including internal costs, recording a surplus of ¥39,856,711, or approximately ¥120 per vehicle.
•Total deposits and costs for recycling of fluorocarbons, airbags and ASR
•Outline of Recycling Results for FY2007
| Fluorocarbons | Recovered without deployment 77,420kg/249,158 vehicles |
| Airbag inflators | Recovered after deployment 156,484 units Units processed 132,533units/77,699 vehicles |
| Recycling rate 94.1% (Standard: 85% or more) |
|
| Shredder residue | Volume received 56,945 tons/289,062 vehicles |
| ASR that would have been generated had full recycling not been done 7,618 tons/44,184 vehicles |
|
| Recycling rate 68.60% |
| Total recycling deposits received |
¥2,617,264,945 |
| Total recycling costs |
¥2,630,268,980 |
In FY2007 we received a total of ¥2,617,264,945 to recycle fluorocarbons, airbags and ASR, incurring recycling costs totaling ¥2,630,268,980, including internal costs, and recording a deficit of ¥13,004,035 for FY2007.
Honda sets its recycling fees for these three items so as to achieve balance over the medium and long term. Looked at annually, we expect both surpluses and deficits. For related incomes and expenditures unrelated to legal compliance we recorded a deficit of ¥14,552,071.
Voluntary Recovery of Hybrid Vehicle Batteries
•The recovery of IMA batteries from hybrid vehicles
Honda uses recyclable nickel metal-hydride (NiMH) batteries in Integrated Motor Assist (IMA) battery packs inside its hybrid vehicles. As shown in the adjacent diagram, we handle all end-of-life IMA batteries through our voluntary recovery system. Recovered IMA batteries contain rare metals, which are recycled for use in the manufacturing of other batteries and stainless steel. Launched in 1999, this voluntary system allowed us to recover 450 IMA batteries in FY2007.
