ISRI represents nearly 1,400 private sector scrap recycling companies. The industry annually recycles approximately 66 million tons of scrap iron and steel, 43 million tons of scrap paper and paperboard, 4.6 million tons of scrap aluminum, 1.8 million tons of scrap copper, 1.1 million tons of scrap stainless steel, 1.1 million tons of scrap lead, 300,000 tons of scrap zinc, 3.1 million tons of scrap glass (beverage containers only), and 650,000 tons of scrap plastic (beverage containers only). ISRI’s recognizes a need to eliminate or minimize the use of hazardous/toxic material in products because they present a grave danger to recyclers’ health and the environment. In addition, hazardous/toxic materials are not readily recyclable. ISRI’s principle concerns include mercury, air bags and plastic gas tanks in automobiles.

Mercury poses several hazards if it is not removed from a vehicle prior to shredding, it can 1) pose an environmental hazard to the recycling facility; 2) contaminate the shredder residue; and 3) pose a health risk to employees. It is ISRI’s position that, to the maximum extent practicable, mercury switches must be removed from End-of-Life Vehicles prior to being delivered to a scrap processing facility. Furthermore, every effort must be made to design mercury out of vehicles. 

Un-deployed air bag modules and inflators that make it through the scrap recycling process are also a potential danger to the environment, human health and safety because they may be unstable. They can pose a risk to recyclers sorting metals. They may also cause an explosion in a smelting furnace because they are a sealed, pressurized unit. ISRI contends that air bags must be removed from End-of-Life vehicles or deployed, with an adequate means for determining that deployment has occurred, prior to delivery to a scrap processing facility.

Plastic gas tanks cause several problems for recyclers. First, there is potential danger to the environment and worker safety because the plastic tanks absorb volatile organic vapours from gasoline. Furthermore, the current multi-layer/multi-polymer design cannot be easily or economically recycled.

ISRI developed the concept of Design for Recyclingâ in the mid-1980s. Design for Recyclingâ is meant to encourage manufacturers to take voluntary action, in lieu of governmental intervention. Its goal is to encourage pre-production planning for safe and efficient recycling by eliminating hazardous and non-recyclable materials from the production process.