There are roughly 12-15 million vehicles that make their way to come under the category of junk car every year because of a number of reasons like engine failure, old age or crash damage. Owing to the fact that any standard car contains around 65% iron and steel by weight so dismantling a car for recycling seems like an environment-friendly choice.
The United States contributes a good amount of $25 billion every year to the national GDP from auto-recycling. 95% of the vehicles which account for 12 million are withdrawn from US roadways. Among all the vehicles, cars are the number one vehicles which are recycled every year.
All the components of a car can be recycled. This increases the rate of recycling to around 90%. The most common parts of a car which are recycled are the oil filters, windshield glass, belts, radiators, batteries.
Why is recycling important?
In the good old days, recycling was an important aspect because of an ounce of rubber cost as much as an ounce of silver. Recycling in no way can be understated. Approximately, 246 million scrap tires are manufactured in the U.S.
The glass is a very versatile material. The composition with which it is made is flexible and can be recycled again and again. The recycled glass can be used for tile flooring, countertops and even jewelry and beads. Almost 10 gallons of oil can be conserved with a ton glass which can be used in the mass production of new glass.
Just like glass, the automobile batteries can also be recycled which can be then used to manufacture new ones. When vehicles are not recycled and are just left to rust, the junk cars release a lot of harmful toxins in the environment. This increases the human carbon footprint and contributes to non-biodegradable landfill.
The tires of the scrap cars are shredded into pellets and reused in football pitch flooring. The car batteries can be disassembled to make use of their separate parts like distilled water, acid, silver and lead.
If the model of the scrap car’s engine is in demand, the spare parts of it are re-manufactured to brand new cars.
The catalytic converters can be re-used for the metals in them such as Palladium, Platinum, and Rhodium to produce new catalytic converters or manufacture electronics and pharmaceutical products.
By now you must have realized the importance of your junk vehicle. There are so many services available where you can get cash for your junk car.
Note: When a ton of steel is recycled, almost 1400 pounds of coal is saved along with 120 pounds of limestone and 2500 pounds of iron ore.
The spare parts can be used in other motors or can be used to create a whole new commercial object.
When a vehicle is recycled, it goes through the following stages-
- De-pollution
- Dismantling
- Destruction
- De-pollution
This includes the disposal of all the hazardous components in a car that affect the environment either by contaminating the food chain or water supply. The parts of the car such as oil, antifreeze, brake, and gas are often securely disposed off or filtered before reuse.
- Dismantling
The batteries, catalytic converters, and tires are manually removed from the car for recycling. The dismantled parts are carefully stored before they are handed over to a licensed specialist for re-use.
- Destruction
The deconstructed metal shells of a car are crushed before they are sent to a metal mill. After being destroyed they go through the following process-
- Magnetic separation
To separate the iron and steel parts from the plastic parts of the car, magnetic separation is used.
- De-tinning
The thin layer of tin that covers the cars to prevent the formation of rust is extracted by exposing the junk car to a hot caustic soda solution. The tin is later recovered by evaporation and crystallization.
- Melting
The steel after it is separated is melted in the furnace after which they are poured into casters and turned into flat sheets. They can later be used in the production of construction materials.
Recycling a useless automobile is a way of turning a scrap car into something useful though in parts. Before you decide to turn your car into something useful check out the best services that give you the best value/cash for your junk car.
