Vehicle Recycling Information

Vehicle recycling is the dismantling of vehicles of spare parts. At the end of their useful life, vehicles have value as a source of spare parts and this has created a vehicle dismantling industry. The industry has various names for its business outlets including wrecking yards, auto dismantling yards,spare car parts suppliers, and recently, auto or vehicle recycling. Vehicle recycling has always occurred to some degree but in recent years manufactures have become involved in the process. A car crusher is often used to reduce the size of the scrapped vehicle for transportation to a steel mill.

Approximately 12-15 million vehicles reach the end of their use each year in just the United States alone. These automobiles, although out of commission, can still have a purpose by giving back the metal and other recyclable materials that are contained in them. The vehicles are shredded and the metal content is recovered for recycling, while in many areas, the rest is further sorted by a machine for recycling of additional materials such as glass and plastics. The remainder, know as automotive shredder residue, is put into a landfill. The shredder residue of the vehicles that is not recovered for metal containers many other recyclable materials including 30% of it as polymers, and 5-10% of it as residual metals. Modern vehicle recycling attempts to be as cost-effective as possible in recycling those residual materials. Currently, 75% of the materials can be recycled, with the remaining 25% ending up in a landfill. As the most recycled consumer product, end-of-life vehicles provide more than 14 million tons of steel to the steel industry.

Process of Recycling a Vehicle

The process of recycling a vehicle is extremely complicated as there are many parts to be recycled and many hazardous materials to remove. Briefly, the process begins with incoming vehicles being inventoried for parts. The wheels and tires, battery and catalytic converter are removed. Fluids, such as engine coolant, oil, transmission fluid, air conditioning refrigerant, and gasoline, are drained and removed. Certain high value parts such as electronic modules, alternators, starter motors, infotainment systems - even complete engines or transmissions - may be removed if they are still serviceable and can be profitably sold on; either in "as-is" used condition or to a remanufacturer for restoration. This process of removing higher value parts from the lower value vehicle body shell has traditionally been done by hand. A labour intensive process, that has meant it is uneconomical to remove many of the parts.

A technique that is on the rise is the mechanical removal of these higher value parts via machine based vehicle recycling systems (VRS). An excavator or materials handler equipped with a special attachment allows these materials to be removed quickly and efficiently. Increasing the amount of material that is recycled and increasing the value the vehicle dismantler receives from an end-of-life vehicle (ELV). Other hazardous materials such as mercury, and sodium azide (the propellant used in air bags) may also be removed. After all of the parts and products inside are removed, the remaining shell of the vehicle is sometimes subject to further processing, which includes removal of the air conditioner evaporator and heater core, and wiring harnesses. The remaining shell is then crushed flat, or cubed, to facilitate economical transportation in bulk to an industrial shredder or hammer mill, where the vehicles are further reduced to fist-sized chunks of metal. Glass, plastic and rubber are removed from the mix, and the metal is sold by multiple tons to steel mills for recycling.

Benefits of Recycling a Vehicle

Recycling steel saves energy and natural resources. The steel industry saves enough energy to power about 18 million households for a year, on a yearly basis. Recycling metal also uses about 74 percent less energy than making metal. Thus, recyclers of end-of-life vehicles save an estimated 85 million barrels of oil annually that would have been used in the manufacturing of other parts. Likewise, car recycling keeps 11 million tons of steel and 800,000 non-ferrous metals out of landfills and back in consumer use. Before the 2003 model year, some vehicles that were manufactured were found to contain mercury auto switches, historically used in convenience lighting and antilock braking systems. Recyclers remove and recycle this mercury before the vehicles are shredded to prevent it from escaping into the environment. In 2007, over 2100 pounds of mercury were collected by 6265 recyclers. Consumers can also financially benefit from recycling certain car parts such as tires and catalytic converters.

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