Cars are meant to be driven, and sometimes we drive them until it’s not worth it to fix them anymore. When it comes to that, you probably need to scrap your vehicle because it cannot be driven by anyone else due to safety or cost to fix it. Car manufacturers are always coming up with new ways to make vehicles more environmentally friendly so that when they need to be taken off the road they don’t leave a large carbon footprint, and there are a few different things that can happen after you choose to scrap your vehicle. Here’s some more information on the processing of scrapping your vehicle.
Fun fact: did you know that up to 80% of most vehicles can be completely recycled?
Sell the parts
When it comes to retired rides, there are still parts of the vehicle that work perfectly fine like door handles or mirrors. If other car owners who drive the same car as you are in a small accident and need to replace small parts then these parts can be directly recycled without having to be processed in any way. This part of recycling cars is small, but it is an active business and there are whole junk yards for spare parts other car owners can use when you retire your ride.
Remove the fluids
After the smaller, sellable parts are removed from a vehicle the fluids also have to be drained. Fluids like transmission fluid, windshield washer fluid, freon from your A/C unit and so on can be incredibly harmful if they seep into the ground or get into a water supply. An authorized facility will remove the fluids safely and store them in tanks until they can be completely disposed of in a safe manner.
Recycle the steel
The steel from a vehicle can be melted down and reused for a variety of purposes, even for building brand new cars. Melting the steel down and processing it is less harmful to the environment than the process of mining for more. Various companies can use the steel since recycling it doesn’t compromise the integrity or make up of it and it will be as strong as it was when it was mined.
Reuse the tires
The steel on a car is not the only part of it than can be recycled. If the tires on your vehicle are too used to be given to another car owner for use on their vehicle, the rubber can be recycled too. Rubber can be melted down and used to things like playground surfaces, mulch for your garden or even in the fabrication of brand new tires.
The battery
Another part of the car that can’t just be thrown out is the battery. Did you know that almost 99% of the battery in your vehicle can be recycled into various other usable items? The lead is melted down and used in other ways, similar to steal. The plastic parts are recycled into other plastic materials and the acid can be used in two ways: neutralized so it turns into water or processed and converted into sodium sulfate.
When you choose to scrap your car, many of its parts can be used in other industries and sometimes even used in the manufacturing of brand new cars. As we try to become more environmentally friend, car companies are also doing their best trying to make cars even more recyclable so we aren’t leaving huge carbon footprints when they no longer work.
Up Next – Pros and cons of using a car dolly.
Learn more about automobiles here.