OmniSource and Plastic Recycling Expand Automotive Shredder Residue Plastics Recovery

OmniSource and Plastic Recycling are expanding a North American recycling supply chain focused on recovering plastics from automotive shredder residue (ASR) generated from end-of-life vehicles.

The partnership aims to process ASR plastics into automotive-grade recycled compounds as automakers and suppliers increase demand for traceable recycled materials for vehicle production.

Under the agreement, OmniSource will provide large volumes of ASR feedstock collected through its metals recycling operations. Historically, much of the plastic fraction from shredded vehicles has had limited recovery value due to contamination and sorting challenges.

Plastic Recycling will process the recovered material into recycled pellets suitable for automotive applications. The company said several original equipment manufacturers and Tier 1 suppliers are already evaluating the compounds for potential use.

Plastic Recycling, headquartered in Indianapolis, said its recycling operations are supported by ISCC PLUS Mass Balance certification and decades of plastics recovery experience.

“We’ve already proven the process works,” said Brandon Shaw, president of Plastic Recycling. “What Omni brings is the feedstock volume to move this into a scaled supply chain.”

The companies said the initiative is designed to create a domestic and traceable circular supply chain for recycled automotive plastics, an area receiving increased attention from regulators and vehicle manufacturers.

The collaboration also includes trials involving artificial intelligence-based sorting technologies aimed at improving plastic separation rates and reducing contamination in mixed ASR streams.

Improved sorting efficiency could help increase recovery yields and strengthen the commercial economics of ASR recycling, where plastics recovery has historically lagged behind metals reclamation.

Matt Bell, vice president of metals recycling at Steel Dynamics, OmniSource’s parent company, said the project creates a direct pathway from scrapped vehicles to recycled automotive compounds.

“We’re creating a traceable circular supply chain that delivers real environmental value,” Bell said.

The companies said regulatory developments are also accelerating interest in recycled automotive plastics, particularly proposed European Union end-of-life vehicle regulations that would increase recycled content requirements and tighten material recovery standards.

Automakers are increasingly seeking verified domestic recycled material streams as supply chain transparency and recycled content reporting become more important across global vehicle manufacturing markets.

OmniSource and Plastic Recycling said discussions regarding future commercial supply volumes and broader deployment of AI sorting systems are ongoing.

Source: Recycling International

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