A greener Honda: car company to recycle hybrid batteries for rare earths

On Wednesday, Honda Moto Co. announced that as part of an increased effort to go green and be environmentally friendly, the car manufacturer will begin recycling rare earth materials this year from the batteries used in hybrid cars. As a whole, Japan is heavily dependent on imports to get its rare earth elements, especially from China. While the materials are invaluable for the manufacturing of high-tech consumer electronics, ongoing tensions with China pose a threat to Japan’s supply.


Honda claims that they will be the first in the auto industry to start rare earth recycling, with the hopes of a September or October launch. Takanobu Ito, Honda’s president, commented that the future of Japan’s energy policy has become uncertain in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, and there is no better time than now to make a push towards the use of renewable energy sources. Ito also said that Honda is making efforts to decrease pollution and its contribution to global warming, and one day hopes to make cars that combine the company’s fuel-cell technology with solar power, creating a car that runs on energy from nature only.

The Honda president pointed to founder Soichiro Honda’s focus on the environment, and how he would tell workers that everyone in the auto industry is responsible for trying to reduce emissions. Prior to Honda’s entrance into the U.S. market, the company had set a goal for building a fuel-efficient gasoline engine, in order to pass the country’s strict regulations against pollution. Honda created its legendary CVCC engine in the 1970s, and was the world’s first auto maker to clear the standard. Shortly after, regulations against pollution were also adopted in Japan.

Source;
http://japandailypress.com/a-greener-honda-car-company-to-recycle-hybrid-batteries-for-rare-earths-204805

Honda to Reuse Rare Earth Metals Contained in Used Parts

Honda Motor Co., Ltd. and the Japan Metals & Chemicals Co., Ltd. today jointly announced the establishment of the world's first process to extract rare earth metals from various used parts in Honda products. This is an actual mass-production process at a recycling plant, not an experimental process. Honda will pursue the recycling of precious resources by utilising the newly established process for the recycling of rare earth metals.

As part of this effort, before the end of this month, Honda and Japan Metals & Chemicals will begin extracting rare earth metals from used nickel-metal hydride batteries collected from Honda hybrid vehicles at Honda dealers inside and outside of Japan. The new operation will be the first in the world to extract rare earth metals as part of a mass-production process at a recycling plant.

Honda had been applying a heat treatment to used nickel-metal hydride batteries and recycling nickel-containing scrap as a raw material of stainless steel. However, the successful stabilisation of the extraction process at the plant of Japan Metals & Chemicals Co., Ltd. made possible the extraction of rare earth metals in a mass-production process with purity as high as that of newly mined and refined metals.

The newly established process enables the extraction of as much as above 80% of rare earth metals contained in used nickel-metal hydride batteries. Honda will strive to reuse extracted rare earth metals not only for nickel-metal hydride batteries, but also for a wide range of Honda products. Moreover, Honda will further expand the recycling of rare earth metals in the future as the newly established process enables the extraction of rare earth metals from a variety of used parts in addition to nickel-metal hydride batteries.

Giving consideration to the recycling of resources used for its products, Honda has long been committed to the 3R (reduce, reuse, recycle) approach. For instance, Honda was the first Japanese automaker to begin sales of recycled parts and to collect/recycle oil filters and replaced bumpers. Honda will continue strengthening its network which links to the reuse and recycling of resources.

Source;

http://www.hondanews.eu/en/news/index.pmode/modul,detail,0,2226-DEFAULT,21,text,1/index.pmode

Ten Honda Manufacturing Facilities in North America Achieve Zero Waste Sent to Landfill

Honda Motor Co. said 10 of its North American plants now send no waste to landfills and four others in the region cut scrap and trash to “virtually” nothing as the carmaker seeks to curb manufacturing-related pollution.

Honda, which claimed in 2001 that its Alabama auto-assembly plant was first in the U.S. to send no trash to landfills, aims to lead the industry in waste reduction, Ed Miller, a spokesman for the Tokyo-based carmaker, said in a telephone interview. The company isn’t aware of a competitor that’s achieved a higher level, he said.

“We now have 10 of 14 facilities that are absolute zero, and for the four that still have some there are extenuating circumstances,” said Miller, who is based in Detroit.

Those include a lack of recycling options for cafeteria waste at Honda’s Mexican motorcycle and auto plant, and a byproduct material from painting aluminum hoods at its Ohio auto plants that can’t be recycled under U.S. rules, Miller said.

Honda, Japan’s third-largest automaker, in 2010 built more than 80 percent of cars and light trucks it sold in the U.S. at North American plants, the highest proportion among Asian and European-based companies. Honda’s U.S. headquarters are in Torrance, California.

Source;
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-14/honda-cuts-waste-at-10-north-american-plants-to-absolute-zero.html