Recycling the new Toyota Prius
July 2, 2009 by Matt Brogan
There’s always a great deal of debate around the Toyota Prius’ composition and just how hard it is to recycle the vehicle once it reaches the end of its useful life.
But the truth is Toyota had plans in place long before the car even reached the showroom to ensure it can be disposed of in an environmentally responsible fashion.
At the end of its lifespan more than 85 per cent of new Prius can be recycled and more than 95 per cent of its materials recovered in a process that only accounts for a tiny proportion (approximately two per cent) of its full life-cycle CO2 emissions.
Of special interest are the Prius’ high voltage nickel-metalhydride batteries which, thanks to a new recycling process, can now have up to 95 per cent of their components recovered for re-use with next to no emissions.
Batteries are removed at an authorised Toyota Prius Service Centre where an appointed waste management company arranges collection and transportation of these batteries to one of three European Final Treatment Companies.
The recovery process begins with the removal of the battery’s outer casing, which itself can be re-used in steel making processes. All the wires and electronic parts are sent to a specialist recovery company, while the power cells themselves are recycled using an induction-based vacuum thermal system.
This is an evolution of the traditional waste heat treatment process, but it consumes less energy, is almost emissions-free and is highly secure.
The cells are put into a sealed container from which all air is removed, significantly reducing internal pressure. The container is then heated to 800°C. When the temperature reaches 400°C all organic materials break down into a mixture of oil and water, which is sent on to a licensed water treatment company for processing. The power cells are then exposed to hydrogen, which helps break the oxides down into metals.
What is left after the process is a highly concentrated nickel alloy which can be re-used as a raw material in the production of new batteries. All the other metallic elements recovered can be used in the manufacture of stainless or other specialist steels.
For our first look at the 2010 Toyota Prius, click here.
Print it: 
*****PRIMO!*****
Well thought out by BigT [tm.F-0]
It really is a *green* vehicle on many levels
NOW if they could [would] just sell it [DIEsel dilema] where it would make fiscal positive sense it would have been PERFECT.
Maybe that the hybrid Camry?
Cheers
F-0
These processes themselves may emit next to no emissions… but they sound like they need an immense amount of electricity. That has to come from somewhere. Nuclear or Coal… either way, imperfect, and should be counted in the reported equation.
NacaYoda – the plant where the new Prius is built is covered in solar panels – i read it generates about half of the plant’s energy requirements.
Bits of the Prius are transported here and there in the recycling process – are the Australian batteries sent to Europe, too? Is that transportation part of the equation?
Many parts on modern cars other than the Prius are recyclable. But re-using a car for, say, 20 years consumes a whole lot less energy than building several new cars and then recycling them. Of course, the current thinking on economics by many governments around the world is to go the Japanese path – encourage those older cars off the road and make us get new ones using taxes and/or cash payouts. The current thinking on environment by governments around the world is to get us to use less energy and resources. I think I need a politician to explain to me how these two oposing ideas actually are compatible.
Heh – anti-spam word is 300kw
I hope this helps put the “Evil battery comittee” to bed.
But why are Toyota clinging on to such an old battery technology anyway??
i like the camry hybrid look….
Lazy bones,
Clinging to old Battery Technology?
Why do manufacturers cling to old engine technology? Push rod V8’s for instance!
Its an evolving technology which works well! Varients are being made includeing a plug in vehicle! why change something when it works so well? Toyota arent really in the habit of makeing bad things! Boring yes, but allways built the best!
“Its an evolving technology which works well”
True it does, and its improving all the time. It could also be they are happy with the recycling process and won’t move until everthing is in order.
But Toyota do appear to have some resistance to a decent range PHEV claiming larger batteries offer a deminished returns.
My Toyota Prius has been out of action for months. I need a new battery pack (model NHW11) and have emailed Toyota several times, but they never respond to me except for trying to sell me a new car. If anyone knows where I can get a battery pack for this car, please let me know, so I can get it going and dispose of it.
So lindsay its an import model I assume?
You will need to take it to a dealer instead of emailing them, they can then get relative part numbers and organise a replacement/Disposal of the old battery.
An email to a dealership will go through as a sales enquirey, Best in this case to go straight to the horses mouth in person! Tapping away at a keyboard is not alwas the easiest method…
Eventually all cars will be hybrid or fully electric, so Toyota is inventing not just the driving systems but also the apparently sustainable mining, processing, production and recycling of hybrid/fully electic components. If only they could use that technology inside cars which were more memorable and desirable, like the new Alfa Romeo MiTo.
Desire is a personal thing Neo, just because you happen to desire a flaunty Italian car, doesn’t mean that other people do. Alfa make unbelievably bad cars, so there is no point in comparing the MiTo to a seriously well built machine like the Prius.
Thanks Pieman, I appreciate your input. In this instance though, I believe we were debating “recycling”, not production.