Toyota Develops First Technology to Recycle Scrapped Car
Shredder Residue to Produce Soundproof Products

Tokyo―TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION announced today that it has developed the world's first technology to sort and extract polyurethane foam and fabric granules from scrapped car shredder residue. The sorted material is used to mass-produce motor-vehicle soundproof products in the form of a mat lining. Shredder residue, conventionally disposed of in landfill sites, is the mixture of resin, rubber, and textile remaining after a car body is scrapped and the metal content removed.

Environmental considerations are a top-priority at Toyota, which has been actively developing production technology friendly to both society and the environment, with an ultimate goal of achieving totally clean vehicle production, use, and disposal. To this end, Toyota has begun recycling resin bumpers and is developing and using recyclable parts and materials.

Granules are difficult to sort because shredder residue is a mixture of many different materials, often tangled together, and because it includes soil and other nonvehicle particles. Toyota's new sorting and molding technology makes it possible to reuse a portion of the polyurethane foam and fabric granules, which account for about 30% of shredder residue by weight and between 60%-70% by volume (See attached reference). This success is expected to further promote motor-vehicle recycling technology.

For the new recycled soundproof products (RSPP), air layers are optimally spaced by appropriately mixing the polyurethane foam and fabric granules. Compared to conventional soundproof products, this results in an outstanding balance of sound absorption and insulation properties, with long-lasting soundproofing performance.

Toyota plans to introduce this material in new models early next year.