Problems connected with environment – friendly recycling of end-of-life vehicles

The study presented in the paper concerns different aspects of car recycling in Poland. The main problems of development of the recycling network are identified. Different scenarios, which are characterized in detail to define changes in the number of cars recycled in Poland in the future, and environmental consequences of these scenarios, are analyzed. The main environmental impacts are classified in three general categories: human health, ecosystem quality, resources. Consequences of the average car recycling in Polish conditions are defined and potential improvements are suggested. Results illustrate the scale of environmental consequences of car recycling problem and they can support activities oriented towards finding the optimum environmental solution. Obtained results of detailed calculations are presented. They confirm that LCA tools may be helpful in evaluation of environmental consequences of end-of-life processes.