Before you adopt a recycling program, it’s best to understand the 3 reasons why DPF and DOC recycling are good for your business and good for America.
Diesel Particulate Filters (DPFs) and Diesel Oxidation Catalysts (DOCs) have been a reality for fleets and diesel service shops around the US since 2007. In 2007, the EPA ratcheted down the emission standards for particulate matter (PM) from diesel engines by 90% from the 2002 standards. As a result of implementing the 2007 standard, engine OEMs were required to include DPFs in their standard engine package as DPFs can achieve the emission reductions needed to meet the standard. DPFs have been a standard component in diesel engines since 2007.
A Quick History – DPF and DOC Recycling
Diesel Particulate Filters (DPFs) and Diesel Oxidation Catalysts (DOCs) have been a reality for fleets and diesel service shops around the US since 2007. In 2007, the EPA ratcheted down the emission standards for particulate matter (PM) from diesel engines by 90% from the 2002 standards. As a result of implementing the 2007 standard, engine OEMs were required to include DPFs in their standard engine package as DPFs can achieve the emission reductions needed to meet the standard. DPFs have been a standard component in diesel engines since 2007.
However, in California, DPFs have been in operation long before the implementation of the EPA 2007 standards. In 2000, the California Air Resources Board adopted the Diesel Risk Reduction Plan after diesel particulate matter was determined to be a Toxic Air Contaminant in 1998. The Diesel Risk Reduction Plan set in motion numerous regulations to reduce diesel particulate matter emissions from specific segments of the diesel engine population. Urban transit buses, solid waste collection (refuse), municipal fleets, vehicles serving ports, and private fleets were all subject to separate CARB regulations to reduce their PM emissions. Applying a CARB-approved retrofit DPF to the 2007 model year engine became a key compliance component for fleets needing to meet various CARB regulations.
Developing Waste Stream Born from Regulation
As DPFs and DOCs have been on the road for more than 10 years, fleets and shops can attest that DPFs fail and need to be replaced (a story for another blog post). Also, many DPFs are installed on vehicles that have reached the end of their useful life (primarily the retrofits in California, as diesel trucks tend to operate for 15 -20 years). Like many truck and engine components, DPFs and DOCs have a residual value greater than that of their scrap metal value, so it makes sense to recycle these systems and not simply include them in the scrap metal lot that typically gets sent to the crusher at the end of a truck’s life. Red Fox has identified solutions to this developing waste stream and offers fleets a solution that makes good business sense.
3 Key Reasons DPF and DOC Recycling is Good for Business and America
1. There is monetary value in the failed or spent DPF core:
Simply put, most DPFs and DOCs are coated or “catalyzed” with Platinum Group Metals (PGM) so the chemistry in the exhaust stream can mix correctly and ensure that engines meet the actual CARB and EPA emission reduction requirements. PGM in DPFs and DOCs can be recovered and recycled by a specialized recycler like Red Fox Resources. Red Fox purchases failed DPFs/DOCs to recover the PGM material. A failed or spent DPF or DOC is typically worth $25 – $700. The alternative to recycling the material is scrapping it, earning roughly $0.50 -$3, tossing it in the dumpster, and paying to remove it.
No good business would choose to continually pay their waste company to haul off recoverable assets worth $25 – $700.
2. Recycling DPFs and DOCs keeps prices down for new parts:
Manufacturers often discuss developing a “sustainable supply chain.” This makes great business sense because making products using reusable materials can be cheaper than using all-new components. It also reduces waste and ensures the long-term availability of products. Recycling DPFs and DOCs is a perfect example of how businesses can promote a sustainable supply chain while decreasing costs for new products.
As engine manufacturers make engines with catalyzed DPFs, they’ll continue to pressure their upstream DPF suppliers to lower prices. The DPF manufacturers are also looking upstream to the raw materials suppliers of PGM for lower prices, but the PGM prices are tied to the market commodity price. Assuming continued demand for the material is consistent, the only other lever to pull to keep the price down is to increase the supply – and provide the catalyst suppliers with recovered PGM that would have otherwise been landfilled or is sitting on shop floors around the country is a great way promote sustainability and keep costs for new parts down.
When a fleet or shop recycles a DPF, it promotes sustainability (reducing the need to mine new material) and bolsters the supply of a scarce product, thus keeping the price for the new DPFs and DOCs down.
3. Recycling DPFs is good for American business
Over 90% of global platinum is mined outside North America, primarily in South Africa and Russia. Material recycled from heavy-duty applications through Red Fox is processed and sold exclusively to domestic PGM suppliers, keeping the material in the U.S. and reducing the reliance on foreign suppliers.
