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Life-Cycle Assessment of the Recycling of Magnesium Vehicle Components

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Abstract

Life-cycle assessment is basically the assessment of a product from the cradle to the grave. Ideally, a product is recycled after its useful life is complete and the end-of-life of the first life cycle leads to the beginning of a new product system. For the end-of-life of magnesium vehicle parts, there are various possible paths to a second life cycle. When magnesium parts are dismantled or magnesium is separated after shredding, the resulting magnesium alloys can be used for secondary, noncritical applications. However, the typical case for magnesium components is that the magnesium postconsumer scrap ends up in the nonferrous metals fraction that consists primarily of aluminum, magnesium, and heavy metals. Today, aluminum is typically fed into a second life cycle as a secondary alloy, and magnesium becomes part of the aluminum cycle as an alloy addition. In this article, we evaluate the environmental effects of using magnesium in the aluminum cycle. We also assess the influence of end-of-life scenarios on the overall environmental impact of a component’s life cycle. The primary focus of our analysis is the evaluation of the effects of magnesium vehicle components on greenhouse gas emissions.

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Notes

  1. CML 2001 is an impact assessment method developed by the Centrum voor Milieuwetenschappen (Institute of Environmental Sciences) at the University of Leiden.

References

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Acknowledgements

This article presented the results from a study on the LCA of magnesium. This work was financially supported by the International Magnesium Association. The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. German Aerospace Centre (DLR), Institute of Vehicle Concepts, Pfaffenwaldring 38-40, 70569, Stuttgart, Germany

    Simone Ehrenberger & Horst E. Friedrich

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  1. Simone Ehrenberger
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  2. Horst E. Friedrich
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Correspondence to Simone Ehrenberger.

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Ehrenberger, S., Friedrich, H.E. Life-Cycle Assessment of the Recycling of Magnesium Vehicle Components. JOM 65, 1303–1309 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11837-013-0703-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11837-013-0703-3

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