12 Efforts to Reduce CO 2 Emissions in the Japanese Automobile …
167
by law have been prohibited. Gradually, the name of “environmental industry” has
come to be crowned to the business.
However, basically the work process has not been changed, where end-of-life
vehicles go through the “liquid removal process” for waste oil & liquids, “flon and
air bag disposal process”, and finally proceed to the “part removal process”. The
useful parts removed are “commercialized” after inspection and cleaning, and reused
as “recycled parts”. This process is “reuse and recycling of products” in terms of
“resource saving” and “energy saving”, and unmistakably it “eliminates wasteful
consumption of resources and energy”. That is, “recycled parts are the products
friendly to the global environment”. Based on this concept, the General Insurance
Association of Japan is promoting widespread use of recycled parts.
The concept is understandable somehow as an image, however, there was no
ground to answer the question of what truly proves “earth-friendly”.
In March 2001, clear expressions of “environmental friendliness” with “numerical
figures” was enabled by the LCA method researched by Professor Katsuya NAGATA
and Hiroshi ONODA (the author of this report) in Nagata laboratory in the Faculty
of Science and Engineering, Waseda University.
In 2003, the implementation plan for the research on “the system to expand the use
of reuse & rebuilt parts” was presented by Waseda University. The first-year plan was
“to practice environmental load evaluation of reuse parts”. After the basic research,
(1) investigation and evaluation on highly-demanded parts, (2) sophistication of the
evaluation method based on the more detailed data, (3) expansion of target auto
models to be evaluated, and (4) effective method of using the results of environmental
load evaluation were considered to create a prototype of the current Green Point
System.
Under these circumstances, the research based on “disassembly and measurement” was started by the Waseda University Environmental Research Institute in
2005 at U-PARTS for small-car parts, and at Kyoei Jikou (Edogawa, Tokyo) and at
Kanazawa Shokai (Saitama Plant) for large-car parts. Indexing of the effect of the
using of reuse parts in CO 2 emission reduction completed in 2007. In May 2007, a
joint press conference was held by Waseda University and Automotive Parts Recyclers Association (one company) after the demonstration of 90% or more of CO 2
emission reduction effect of reuse parts compared to new parts. “This result could
be a guide for promoting the use of reuse parts”, they stated in the press conference
(Japan Automobile Recycling Promotion Center 2010b).
167
by law have been prohibited. Gradually, the name of “environmental industry” has
come to be crowned to the business.
However, basically the work process has not been changed, where end-of-life
vehicles go through the “liquid removal process” for waste oil & liquids, “flon and
air bag disposal process”, and finally proceed to the “part removal process”. The
useful parts removed are “commercialized” after inspection and cleaning, and reused
as “recycled parts”. This process is “reuse and recycling of products” in terms of
“resource saving” and “energy saving”, and unmistakably it “eliminates wasteful
consumption of resources and energy”. That is, “recycled parts are the products
friendly to the global environment”. Based on this concept, the General Insurance
Association of Japan is promoting widespread use of recycled parts.
The concept is understandable somehow as an image, however, there was no
ground to answer the question of what truly proves “earth-friendly”.
In March 2001, clear expressions of “environmental friendliness” with “numerical
figures” was enabled by the LCA method researched by Professor Katsuya NAGATA
and Hiroshi ONODA (the author of this report) in Nagata laboratory in the Faculty
of Science and Engineering, Waseda University.
In 2003, the implementation plan for the research on “the system to expand the use
of reuse & rebuilt parts” was presented by Waseda University. The first-year plan was
“to practice environmental load evaluation of reuse parts”. After the basic research,
(1) investigation and evaluation on highly-demanded parts, (2) sophistication of the
evaluation method based on the more detailed data, (3) expansion of target auto
models to be evaluated, and (4) effective method of using the results of environmental
load evaluation were considered to create a prototype of the current Green Point
System.
Under these circumstances, the research based on “disassembly and measurement” was started by the Waseda University Environmental Research Institute in
2005 at U-PARTS for small-car parts, and at Kyoei Jikou (Edogawa, Tokyo) and at
Kanazawa Shokai (Saitama Plant) for large-car parts. Indexing of the effect of the
using of reuse parts in CO 2 emission reduction completed in 2007. In May 2007, a
joint press conference was held by Waseda University and Automotive Parts Recyclers Association (one company) after the demonstration of 90% or more of CO 2
emission reduction effect of reuse parts compared to new parts. “This result could
be a guide for promoting the use of reuse parts”, they stated in the press conference
(Japan Automobile Recycling Promotion Center 2010b).