A unique demolition pilot in Peltola, Turku, collects information on end-of-life vehicle materials, recycling, reuse of parts, and demolition methods

(To customers.) Peltola in Turku is leading the way to a new kind of automotive industry. Car recycling is undergoing such major changes that the transformation could be compared to the time a hundred years ago, when cars began to replace horses in road traffic. “The automotive industry is experiencing a major change. Can we make a car as ecological as a horse?” ponders Veli-Matti Jalonen, CEO of the dismantling company Oili Jalonen Oy and former chairman of the Finnish Dismantling Association. Jalonen has seen that the circular economy regulation for vehicles planned by the EU is introducing such requirements for the dismantling, reuse and recycling of cars that their implementation requires a new kind of cooperation, transparency of information, research and testing of new methods from the entire ecosystem. Directly from Jalonen’s idea into practice, a completely exceptional scrap vehicle dismantling line has been designed and built in the premises of the Turku Vocational Institute in Peltola, Turku. It is part of the Car Dismantling – materials recovery, reuse and recyclability of new products project funded by the Regional Council of Southwest Finland. The project, led by Turku University of Applied Sciences, investigates the materials contained in different car components, dismantling methods, recycling opportunities and reuse bottlenecks. In addition to Oili Jalonen and recycling operator Stena Recycling, several parties are involved in the project, including the Car Dismantling Association and Finnish Automobile Recycling. Turku University of Applied Sciences...