Claims:1. A process for recycling polymeric components scrapped from a plurality of vehicles to manufacture a recycled component for use in a vehicle, the process comprising:
segregating the polymeric components scrapped from the plurality of vehicles into a plurality of grades based on pre-defined mechanical parameters of each of the polymeric components;
shredding the polymeric components of each of the plurality of grades to form shredded particles of plurality of grades; and
combining the shredded particles of at least two grades of the plurality of grades of the polymeric components in a pre-determined ratio to manufacture the recycled component.
2. The process as claimed in claim 1, wherein the mechanical parameters of the polymeric components includes tensile strength, flexural strength, impact strength and mold shrinkage.

3. The process as claimed in claim 1, wherein the polymeric components are segregated into four grades including a first grade, a second grade, a third grade and a fourth grade.

4. The process as claimed in claim 3, wherein the polymeric components of the first grade possess tensile strength higher than 20 Mega Pascal (MPa), flexural strength higher than 30 MPa, impact strength higher than 60 Kilo Joule / square meter (KJ/m2), and mold shrinkage of 1.2%.
5. The process as claimed in claim 3, wherein the polymeric components of the second grade possess tensile strength higher than 20 MPa, flexural strength of 29 MPa, impact strength of 66 KJ/m^2 , and mold shrinkage of 0.7%.

6. The process as claimed in claim 3, wherein the polymeric components of the third grade possess tensile strength of 17 MPa, flexural strength of 19 MPa, impact strength of 50 KJ/m^2 , and mold shrinkage of 1.05%.
7. The process as claimed in claim 3, wherein the polymeric components of fourth grade possess tensile strength of 17 MPa, flexural strength of 24 MPa, impact strength of 60 KJ/m^2 , mold shrinkage of 1.08%.
8. The process as claimed in claim 1, wherein the polymeric components are bumper assemblies of the plurality of vehicles.
9. The process as claimed in claim 1 comprises de-painting and washing each of the plurality of polymeric components after segregation into plurality of grades.
10. The process of as claimed in claim 1, wherein the pre-determined ratio includes at least one of:
10% of the first grade, 80% of the second grade and 10% of either of the third grade or the fourth grade;
25% of the first grade and 75% of the second grade;
80% of the second grade and 20% of either of the third grade or the fourth grade; and
100% of the second grade.

11. The process as claimed in claim 1, wherein the recycled component is manufactured completely by scrapped material.
, Description:TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure generally relates to the field of automobiles. Particularly, but not exclusively, the present disclosure relates to a process for recycling of components of the vehicles. Further, embodiments of the present disclosure disclose a process for recycling scrapped polymeric components, such as bumper assembly, of a number of vehicles to manufacture a recycled component by a circular economy concept.

BACKGROUND

Increase in wealth may lead to buying more products and which may further lead to creation of more waste. As the technology is developing more products are also getting developed, much of these products contain materials that are non-biodegradable. The non-biodegradable materials that are used in a greater number of products.

Discarded plastic automobile components end up in the hands of unorganized sectors. This scrap may be treated either by converting into low value plastic applications or burnt as a fuel to generate heat or landfilled. Due to non- scientific and unorganized practices, consumption and disposal of such plastics, poses serious environmental and safety challenges. In addition to this, use of high potential engineered plastic material grade for less critical and secondary applications causes a huge economic loss for the auto industry.

The potential solution for resolving the issues of disposing of the polymeric material is recycling. As the word suggest recycling is the process of converting waste material into usable materials to prevent waste of potentially useful materials, this reduces the use of fresh raw materials, energy usage, landfills, air pollution etc. However, all the polymeric materials cannot be recycled easily as they require pre-processing. The polymeric components are increasingly used in the automobile industries for manufacturing of vehicle components as they offer design flexibility, meet current and upcoming regulations, have light weight advantages and are corrosion resistant etc.

To address this issue, various governments are taking initiative by imposing environment regulations and Vehicle manufactures also design their parts with design for environment. Vehicle owners either scrap their cars at the end of life or after automobile components are damaged during accidents. The damaged components are replaced by the new components and the old components are being scrapped or are no longer used. These are collected and recycled by the automobile dealerships.

The vehicles which are shredded as a whole and it gets frayed into a small sized portions of non-ferrous metals, steel, and fluffs (plastics, glass, rubber, etc.,). The ferrous components that are obtained from the scrapped vehicles are recycled easily and most of the recycled ferrous materials are used in manufacturing of the new vehicle components or used for any other alternate purpose. However there is no viable solution for the recycling of the polymeric components by treating scrapped components and making new components from the scrap.

The steel and iron material which is emerging as a scrap from vehicles may be magnetically separated from other contents and recycled. These metal scraps are shipped to steel mills where it is used to produce new steel. The recycled steel is used in the making of the cars or used for any alternate purpose. However, materials other than the scrapped steel are not reused to their e maximum potential for example the polymeric materials used in making the automobile components such as bumpers. The automobile bumpers are made up of polymeric material which is generally polypropylene material.

The polymeric material undergoes number of process before being moulded into the required shape of the components. In order to meet the end product requirement for the automobile components, the raw material grade of the bumper is compounded using colorants, reinforcing fillers, modifiers and additives. Then the automobile components are moulded using the compounded raw material with the said materials. Moulded components are then tested to meet the predefined material level and the component level requirements. The tested automobile components are assembled on to the vehicles after ensuring they meet the required material and component properties. At the end of the life of bumpers, that is in case of accidents or damage to the bumpers, they are removed from the automobile and are scrapped. Percentage of recycled post-consumer plastics is generally very small

The discarded polymeric based components are shredded into pieces and are either used for the lesser critical automobile applications or are used for secondary “non-auto applications”. Hence, in the conventionally the polymeric materials are not used up to its maximum potential. Also, the polymeric material is used as fuel to generate heat by burning the material.

The scrapped polypropylene components are also landfilled i.e., the polypropylene components are disposed into the earth surface and consumption of these also pose a serious threat. This causes a serious environmental issue too.

The present disclosure is directed to overcome one or more limitations stated above.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

One or more shortcomings of the conventional process are overcome by process as claimed and additional advantages are provided through the provision of processes as claimed in the present disclosure.

Additional features and advantages are realized through the techniques of the present disclosure. Other embodiments and aspects of the disclosure are described in detail herein and are considered a part of the claimed disclosure.

In one non-limiting embodiment of the disclosure a process for recycling of a polymeric components scrapped from plurality of vehicles to manufacture a recycled component for use in vehicle is disclosed. The process for recycling the polymeric components comprises segregating the polymeric components scrapped from the plurality of vehicles into plurality of grades based on predefined mechanical parameters of each of the polymeric components. Then shredding the polymeric components scrapped from the plurality of vehicles into a plurality of grades to form a shredded particle of plurality of grades. The process also includes combining at least two grades of the plurality of grades of the polymeric components in a predetermined ratio to obtain the recycled component.

In an embodiment of the disclosure, the polymeric components of a plurality of vehicles are segregated based on the predefined mechanical parameters. Wherein the polymeric components are segregated based on the mechanical properties such as tensile strength, flexural strength, impact strength and mold shrinkage.

In an embodiment of the disclosure, the polymeric components are segregated into four grades as first grade, second grade, third gear and fourth grade.

In an embodiment of the disclosure, the polymeric components of the first grade possess tensile strength higher than 20 Mega Pascal (MPa), flexural strength higher than 30 MPa, impact strength higher than 60 Kilo Joule/square meter ((KJ)/m^2 ), and mold shrinkage of 1.2%.

In an embodiment of the disclosure, the polymeric components of the second grade possess tensile strength higher than 20 Mega Pascal (MPa), flexural strength higher than 29 MPa, impact strength higher than 66 Kilo Joule/square meter ((KJ)/m^2 ), and mold shrinkage of 0.7%.

In an embodiment of the disclosure, the polymeric components of the third grade possess tensile strength higher than 17 Mega Pascal (MPa), flexural strength higher than 19 MPa, impact strength higher than 50 Kilo Joule/square meter ((KJ)/m^2 ), and mold shrinkage of 1.05%.

In an embodiment of the disclosure, the polymeric components of the fourth grade possess tensile strength higher than 17 Mega Pascal (MPa), flexural strength higher than 24 MPa, impact strength higher than 60 Kilo Joule/square meter ((KJ)/m^2 ), and mold shrinkage of 1.08%.

In an embodiment of the disclosure, the polymeric components are bumper assemblies of the plurality of vehicles

In an embodiment of the disclosure, the process further comprises de-painting and washing of plurality of polymeric components after segregation into plurality of grades.

In an embodiment of the disclosure, the polymeric components of plurality of grades are combined in a pre-determined ratio. Wherein the predetermined ratio includes at least one of 10% of first grade, 80% of the second grade and 10% of either of the third or the fourth grade, also the other combination includes at least one of 25% of first grade and 75% of the second grade, yet another combination includes pre-determined ratio of at least one of 80% of second grade and 20% of either third or the fourth grade and yet another combination includes pre-determined ratio of 100% of the second grade.
In an embodiment of the disclosure, wherein, the recycled polymeric components are manufactured completely by scrapped material

It is to be understood that the aspects and embodiments of the disclosure described above may be used in any combination with each other. Several of the aspects and embodiments may be combined together to form a further embodiment of the disclosure.

The foregoing summary is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting. In addition to the illustrative aspects, embodiments, and features described above, further aspects, embodiments, and features will become apparent by reference to the drawings and the following detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING FIGURES

The novel features and characteristic of the disclosure are set forth in the appended claims. The disclosure itself, however, as well as a preferred mode of use, further objectives and advantages thereof, will best be understood by reference to the following detailed description of an illustrative embodiment when read in conjunction with the accompanying figures. One or more embodiments are now described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying figures wherein like reference numerals represent like elements and in which:

FIG.1 illustrates a pictorial view of a process for recycling polymeric components of vehicles using a circular economy approach, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG.2 is a flowchart of the process for recycling the polymeric components collected from plurality of vehicles, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

The figures depict embodiments of the disclosure for purposes of illustration only. One skilled in the art will readily recognize from the following description that alternative embodiments of the structures and methods illustrated herein may be employed without departing from the principles of the disclosure described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The foregoing has broadly outlined the features and technical advantages of the present disclosure in order that the detailed description of the disclosure that follows may be better understood. Additional features and advantages of the disclosure will be described hereinafter which form the subject of the claims of the disclosure. It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the conception and specific embodiment disclosed may be readily utilized as a basis for modifying or designing other structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present disclosure. It should also be realized by those skilled in the art that such equivalent processes do not depart from the spirit and scope of the disclosure as set forth in the appended claims. The novel features which are believed to be characteristic of the disclosure, both as to its organization and method of operation, together with further objects and advantages will be better understood from the following description when considered in connection with the accompanying figures. It is to be expressly understood, however, that each of the figures is provided for the purpose of illustration and description only and is not intended as a definition of the limits of the present disclosure. It will be readily understood that the aspects of the present disclosure, as generally described herein, and illustrated in the figures, can be arranged, substituted, combined, and designed in a wide variety of different configurations, all of which are explicitly contemplated and make part of this disclosure.

Embodiments of the present disclosure discloses a process for recycling of polymeric components, particularly polymeric components of vehicles. The process firstly involves collecting polymeric components such as but not limited to bumper assemblies from various vehicles. In some embodiments, various vehicles may include vehicles of different models and classes. The process of collection, for instance, involves collection of scrapped polymeric components of plurality of vehicles from various dealerships or service stations. Further, the collected polymeric components from the dealerships or service stations may be dismantled i.e., the metallic components and other child parts may be removed from each of the polymeric components. The dismantled components may be de-painted from them using either thermal, chemical or mechanical methods.

Subsequently, the process comprises of segregating the polymeric components into a plurality of grades. In an embodiment, the collected polymeric components may be segregated into a first grade, a second grade, a third grade and a fourth grade. The segregation or classification of the components into grades may be done based on predefined mechanical parameters of each of the polymeric grades. The mechanical parameters taken into consideration may include but are not limited to tensile strength, flexural strength, impact strength and mold shrinkage. Once the segregation into grades are complete, the process involves shredding each of these polymeric components into a number of shredded particles. The process further comprises of combining the shredded particles of at least two grades of the plurality of grades of polymeric components in a pre-determined ratio to manufacture a recycled component or by combining 100% of the second grade. In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the granules of different grades may be combined or mixed together in number of ratios of one or more segregated components. Further, the combined material to be then processed using extruder and may be pelletized to form raw material granules.

Additionally, the pre-determined ratio may be arrived at by considering mechanical properties of material grades based on a number of damaged/scrapped components available. In an embodiment, the polymeric component considered for recycling may be bumper assemblies of plurality of vehicles. However, the same should not be construed as a limitation to the present disclosure, as the recycling process of the present disclosure may be applicable for any such polymeric components.

The terms “comprises”, “comprising”, or any other variations thereof used in the specification, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that an assembly that comprises a list of components or steps does not include only those components or steps but may include other components or steps not expressly listed or inherent to such setup or method. In other words, one or more elements in an assembly proceeded by “comprises… a” does not, without more constraints, preclude the existence of other elements or additional elements in the assembly.

Henceforth, the present disclosure is explained with the help of one or more figures of exemplary embodiments. However, such exemplary embodiments should not be construed as limitation of the present disclosure. The process of recycling shown in figures is of one particular methodology, it is to be noted that slight variations in methodology of the process of recycling is to be considered as part of the present disclosure.

The following paragraphs describe the present disclosure with reference to FIGS.1 and 2. In the figures, the same element or elements which have similar functions are indicated by the same reference signs.

FIG.1 is an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, illustrating pictorial view of the recycling process using circular economy approach for treating polymeric components of a plurality of vehicles. As shown in FIG.1, the recycling process using circular economy approach for treating polymeric components of a plurality of vehicles firstly comprises of collecting scrapped polymeric components from various places such as dealerships or service stations. The scrapped polymeric components which are collected for the purposes of recycling include but are not limited to bumper assemblies. As shown at 101, the material from the scrapped components which may otherwise be scrapped may be collected using devices such as cranes and other types of lifting equipment. The material from scrapped components collected, may be transported to a suitable place such as workshop for further processing. In an embodiment, the polymeric components may be dismantled into various parts i.e., metallic parts, glass etc. may be removed as shown at 102. Further, the polymeric components may then be de-painted as the paint cannot be recycled.

In an embodiment, the de-painted polymeric components may then be segregated into a plurality of grades in the form of a first grade, a second grade, a third grade and a fourth grade. The segregation or classification may be done based on mechanical parameters of each of the plurality of polymeric components. The mechanical parameters considered for such segregation may include but are not limited to tensile strength, flexural strength, impact strength and mold shrinkage. These mechanical parameters may be measured using suitable devices or machines specific to a particular measurement of the parameter. Accordingly, based on measurements of these mechanical parameters each of the polymeric components from different vehicles may be segregated into any of first grade to fourth grade. Further, after the segregation, the polymeric components may be shredded into small pieces respectively or into pelletized granules. In an embodiment, any device capable of shredding may be used.

Further, as shown at 103, the pelletized granules of at least two grades of the plurality of grades may be combined at pre-defined ratios to obtain a new grade of recycled material. In an embodiment the pre-defined ratio of plurality of grades may be 100% of the second grade. In an embodiment, the predefined ratios may be obtained by performing series of tests on the combination of recycled material. The tests are performed on each of the plurality of grades that are segregated in any of the first to fourth grades. In an embodiment, the tests include comparison of the mechanical parameters of the combined material with that of standard pre-determined mechanical parameters of a vehicle components. In an embodiment, if the vehicle component under consideration is a bumper assembly, at least two bumper assemblies of different grades may be combined at pre-defined ratios. In an embodiment the pre-determined ratio may be 100% of the second grade material. Further, each of these different combinations of bumper assemblies may be tested to measure the mechanical parameters and verify if it is in agreement with the pre-determined values of the said mechanical parameters of a standard bumper assembly. In an embodiment, the different combinations or the pre-defined ratios of combining bumper assemblies of different grades may be at least one of 10% of the first grade, 80% of the second grade, 10% of either of the third grade or the fourth grade or 25% of the first grade and 75% of the second grade or 80% of the second grade and 20% of either of the third grade or the fourth grade or of 100% of the second grade.

As shown at 104, the combination using predefined ratios of at least two grades of the pelletized granules are molded into a new vehicle component. Thus, the polymeric components that are recycled from the scrapped polymeric components of the plurality of vehicles are further formed into new components and may be reused in the first grade market than the underutilization of the polymeric components. As shown in 105, the molded component is then tested to meet the specified material and component level requirements. The tests performed are on the parameters that include mechanical parameters but not limited to it, the mechanical parameters are tensile strength, flexural strength, impact strength and mold shrinkage. The parameters considered are predetermined parameters which stand as target for the recycled polymeric components. If the recycled polymeric component meets the required specifications the recycled components are assembled on to the plurality of vehicles as shown in 106. If the recycled component doesn’t meet the required specifications it is further modified and again subjected to the testing and validation. The process continues further as the assembled parts over a period of time get scrapped and can be recycled again using the same approach.

Referring now to FIG.2, it is a flowchart depicting different steps involved in recycling of polymeric components of plurality of vehicles.

As shown at block 107, the polymeric components of a number of vehicles that may usually be scrapped, are collected from different dealerships and service stations. The scrapped polymeric materials may include but are not limited to bumper assemblies of vehicles. In an embodiment, these polymeric components may be collected from models of different vehicles and does not limit to a particular vehicle or a model. Generally, these polymeric components may comprise of different child parts such as metallic elements, glass and other non-recyclable plastic etc. which may have to be removed or dismantled from the polymeric component before it can be subjected to next process, as the child parts cannot be recycled with the polymeric components. The dismantled polymeric components may be de-painted using thermal, chemical or mechanical methods as the paint cannot be recycled. Further, the plurality of de-painted polymeric components may be washed or cleaned thoroughly to remove the dust, dirt and other foreign materials which may be present.

At block 108, these processed polymeric components may be further segregated into different grades based on parameters of the polymeric components. These parameters may be mechanical parameters. The mechanical parameters considered for such segregation may include but are not limited to tensile strength, flexural strength, impact strength and mold shrinkage. Accordingly, based on the measurements of mechanical parameters, each of the polymeric components from different vehicles may be segregated in to any of first grade to fourth grade. The predefined values for segregation of the polymeric components into these grades may be pre-defined any may be obtained by arriving at an optimized values of the parameters for each grade of polymeric components. In an embodiment, the mechanical parameters of different grades may be as mentioned in Table-1 below.

Sr No Properties Unit Grade
First Second Third Fourth
1 Tensile Strength at break MPa 20 20 17 17
2 Flexural Strength MPa 30 29 19 24
3 Notched Izod Impact Strength @ 23° C KJ/m2 60 66 50 60
4 Mold Shrinkage % 1.2 0.7 1.05 1.08

TABLE-1

In an embodiment, as can be seen from Table-1, for a polymeric component to be classified into first grade, it should possess tensile strength of 20 Mega Pascal (MPa), flexural strength of 30 MPa, impact strength of 60 Kilo Joule / square meter and mold shrinkage of 1.2%. For the polymeric components to be classified into second grade, it should possess tensile strength of 20MPa, flexural strength of 29 MPa, impact strength of 66 Kilo Joule / square meter and mold shrinkage of 0.7%. similarly, for the polymeric components to be classified into third grade, it should possess tensile strength of 17MPa, flexural strength of 19MPa, impact strength of 50 Kilo Joule / square meter and mold shrinkage of 1.05%. And for the polymeric components to be classified into third grade, it should possess tensile strength of 17 MPa, flexural strength of 24 MPa, impact strength of 60 Kilo Joule / square meter and mold shrinkage of 1.08%.

Further, as shown at block 109, the segregated polymeric components may be shredded into smaller pieces in the form of granules and may be stored respectively according to the segregated grades. These granules of different grades may be physically combined in pre-determined ratios to form physically mixed recycled material. In order to possess homogeneous properties, the plurality of physically mixed grades may be processed using an extruder and may be pelletized to form granules of the plurality of chemically combined material grades. The plurality of chemically mixed material are combined in order to meet the targeted properties which may be pre-determined. The targeted properties of the recycled polymeric material are obtained by the pre-defined standards of the said plurality of grades of vehicles. These targeted values may be as tabulated below. According to these tabulated values the plurality of combinations are made and tested for obtaining the best combination that meets the targeted properties are as shown in the Table-2
Property Value
Shrinkage 0.7+/-0.15
Tensile Strength 17-22 Mpa
Flexural strength 25-29 Mpa
Notched Impact Min 50 KJ/m2

TABLE-2

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the polymeric components of different grades may be combined in a pre-defined ratio of the plurality of the grades to meet the target specifications of the recycled material as shown in Table-2. The pre-defined ratio includes at least one of 10% of the first grade, 80% of the second grade and 10% of either of the third grade or fourth grade, 25% of the first grade and 75% of second grade and 80% of the second grade and 20% of third or the fourth grade respectively. The combination of the said plurality of ratios are performed based on the number of methods including trial and error, but not limiting to the particular method to obtain the combination of the polymeric components that meet the targeted values of the polymeric materials. The tests that are conducted on the number of combinations obtained are tabulated and the combination of the plurality of grades of the polymeric material that meet the targeted range of specifications are selected to form the recycled component of the plurality of vehicles.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in block 110 the material combined in one or more pre-determined ratios of plurality of grades may be molded into the one or more recycled polymeric component of the vehicle as in the present disclosure a bumper, the component may not be limited to the bumper. The extruded and pelletized granules that are combined into plurality of the combinations using the plurality of grades that are segregated and molded to form a vehicle component, wherein the molded components are further tested for the material and the component properties as shown in the block 111. The tests performed are based on number of parameters including mechanical parameters but not limiting it to a particular test parameter, these tests are performed on the recycled polymeric components of the plurality of vehicles and the test results are compared with the targeted values of mechanical parameters such as shrinkage, tensile strength, flexural strength and notched impact strength as shown in table 2. The tested recycled components of the scrapped polymeric material may be used in the first grade market thus, providing the maximum utilization of the polymeric components. If the test results obtained after testing the plurality of molded polymeric components for the said parameters meet the targeted values as in table 2 the molded components (recycled polymeric components) are assembled on to the plurality of vehicles as shown in the block 112

Advantages

The present disclosure discloses a process for recycling polymeric components of vehicles. The advantage of the present invention is to provide material combinations for making new polymeric based components from scrapped and damaged polymeric components without use of any virgin material. The present disclosure also provides a sustainable solution to treat the scrapped polymeric components using circular economy route.

The polymeric materials are not used to their fullest of potential hence the present invention helps in utilization of the polymeric materials to its fullest potential and reducing the infiltration of the polymeric material in the food chain, reducing landfills and providing a cleaner environment.

Equivalents

With respect to the use of substantially any plural and/or singular terms herein, those having skill in the art can translate from the plural to the singular and/or from the singular to the plural as is appropriate to the context and/or application. The various singular/plural permutations may be expressly set forth herein for sake of clarity.

It will be understood by those within the art that, in general, terms used herein, are generally intended as "open" terms (e.g., the term "including" should be interpreted as "including but not limited to," the term "having" should be interpreted as "having at least," the term "includes" should be interpreted as "includes but is not limited to," etc.). It will be further understood by those within the art that if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is intended, such an intent will be explicitly recited in the claim, and in the absence of such recitation no such intent is present. For example, as an aid to understanding the description may contain usage of the introductory phrases "at least one" and "one or more" to introduce claim recitations. However, the use of such phrases should not be construed to imply that the introduction of a claim recitation by the indefinite articles "a" or "an" limits any particular claim containing such introduced claim recitation to inventions containing only one such recitation, even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases "one or more" or "at least one" and indefinite articles such as "a" or "an" (e.g., "a" and/or "an" should typically be interpreted to mean "at least one" or "one or more"); the same holds true for the use of definite articles used to introduce claim recitations. In addition, even if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is explicitly recited, those skilled in the art will recognize that such recitation should typically be interpreted to mean at least the recited number (e.g., the bare recitation of "two recitations," without other modifiers, typically means at least two recitations, or two or more recitations). Furthermore, in those instances where a convention analogous to "at least one of A, B, and C, etc." is used, in general such a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understand the convention (e.g., "a system having at least one of A, B, and C" would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, and C together, etc.). In those instances where a convention analogous to "at least one of A, B, or C, etc." is used, in general such a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understand the convention (e.g., "a system having at least one of A, B, or C" would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, and C together, etc.). It will be further understood by those within the art that virtually any disjunctive word and/or phrase presenting two or more alternative terms, whether in the description, or drawings, should be understood to contemplate the possibilities of including one of the terms, either of the terms, or both terms. For example, the phrase "A or B" will be understood to include the possibilities of "A" or "B" or "A and B."

While various aspects and embodiments have been disclosed herein, other aspects and embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art. The various aspects and embodiments disclosed herein are for purposes of illustration and are not intended to be limiting, with the true scope and spirit being indicated in the description.

Referral Numerals:
Description Reference Number
Collecting scrapped polymeric materials from dealerships and service stations 101
Dismantling, Shredding and making granules 102
Combining of plurality of grades 103
Molding 104
Testing and validation 105
Assembly on vehicles 106
FLOWCHART
Collection of scrapped components 107
segregating 108
Shredding and combining 109
Molding 110
Testing and validation 111
Assembly of components 112