End-of-life vehicles (ELV) have become a global concern. Countries with a legislative ELV system commonly set a target for recovery rates, with many aiming for more than 95% recover, and, in Europe it is required that at leat 85% of the vehicle weight is recycled. Besides, the primary goals of the automotive recycling industry are to harvest automobile components for reuse and to recycle the remaining valuable materials that can be used in the manufacture of new basic materials.
Nevertheless, with the available tools, depolluting and recovering of ELV components is still a time-consuming activity especially for a small and medium-sized dismantler. As a consequence, many ELV go through a very superficial depolluting and recovering process, and are sent to dismantling and shredding even when considerable amounts of fluids and materials could still be recovered.