ELV Plastics Separation Systems Planned Recycling plastics from scrap cars will become ever more important in Europe, as the recent legislation on end of life vehicles (ELVs) is implemented. The law prescribes that by 2015 at least 95 per cent (by weight) of an ELV must be recoverable. Multinational car manufacturers Daimler Chrysler believe that this will not be possible without improving existing plastics recovery techniques. Current processes separating plastics by different densities are not effective with plastics which have similar densities. Compounds and coating plastics have been landfilled or incinerated due to separation difficulties. The company expects that the average car in 2005 will consist of 25 per cent plastic (compared to 15 per cent today). Daimler Chrysler and other companies are developing a new approach to recovery. After the shredding process, plastics are pre-sorted with a sensor and two types are removed. The two fractions are separated using infrared spectrometers. After detection, the automated system can also determine which plastics should be returned for materials recycling and which should be sent for energy recovery