The average car contains all sorts of fluids and materials that are dangerously hazardous if they get into the natural food chain or water supply. Therefore, expert knowledge and equipment is required to properly remove and dispose of these toxic materials, safeguarding environmental, animal and human health.<\/p>\n
Sustainability and economic value<\/strong><\/p>\n Recycled cars are a valuable source of steel and other scrap metals; incredibly versatile raw materials that can be put to excellent use in a whole host of industries. Recycling cars saves us from having to mine new ore, which thereby saves effort, energy and materials that would otherwise be required for the manufacture of new metals.<\/p>\n As well as resulting in less air pollution, less water pollution and less mining waste, this also makes recycled steel less expensive – savings which benefit not just the automotive industry as a whole, but also ultimately makes things cheaper for individual buyers looking to buy new vehicles.<\/p>\n Today, the British car industry is required to recycle at least 95% of every End-of-Life vehicle. This legislation was laid out in the latest stage of the End-of-Life Vehicle Directive, and has been in effect since January 2015.<\/p>\n This encompasses almost everything, including the steel and raw materials of the car shell, the rubber in the tyres, and the plastic and leather in the interiors. To ensure that the recycling processes are of an appropriate standard, they can only be carried out by official Authorised Treatment Facilities, which are licenced and monitored by the Environment Agency.<\/p>\n Here at Scrap Car Network, every one of our partners is an Authorised Treatment Facility; we won\u2019t partner with anyone else! What\u2019s more, we\u2019ve set our sights on the target of getting this 95% figure up to 100%, eliminating vehicle waste entirely. It\u2019s a long-term goal, but we\u2019re determined to make progress.<\/p>\n Most of them! Some of the most valuable and useful parts include the catalytic converter, the engine, car batteries, wheels and tyres, and the oil filter. However, we\u2019d generally advise against doing this yourself. Scrap cars are valued primarily by their weight, so removing parts will have a severe impact on how much companies will pay you for your scrap car<\/a>.<\/p>\n Unless you\u2019ve got solid experience as a professional mechanic or industry expert, you may well find that removing parts takes a lot of time and effort, and there\u2019s no firm guarantee that you\u2019d make more money recycling your car in pieces, than you would simply scrapping it as a whole. Our post on scrap car pric<\/a>es contains more details.<\/p>\n Essentially, every car is recycled in three key stages: depollution, dismantlement and finally, destruction. At the depollution stage, toxic materials are removed. Dismantlement involves taking off parts for re-use and re-sale, before the car is finally crushed at the destruction stage.<\/p>\n Depollution<\/strong><\/p>\n Hazardous fluids are one of the key priorities at the depollution stage<\/a>. This includes windscreen wash, coolants, antifreeze and oil, all of which are removed by trained specialists. Once they\u2019re removed, they\u2019re either put to good use in another vehicle or machine, or safely disposed of. Engine oil, for example, is often used to fuel freighters and container ships.<\/p>\n Dismantlement<\/strong><\/p>\n Now, the car is meticulously taken apart at the dismantlement<\/a> stage. The catalytic converter, for example, is stripped of its precious metals, whereas dashboard plastics are broken down to raw polymers which can be used for new plastic products. For similar reasons, glass windows are turned into fine sand, while the rubber for car tyres is used for tarmac or playground aggregate.<\/p>\n Certain foams and plastics within the car undergo a process called gasification, in order to generate electricity. Whole engines, meanwhile, can sometimes be used for new vehicles, or dismantled into their component parts.<\/p>\n Destruction<\/strong><\/p>\n At this point, the scrap car is almost ready to be sent to the shredder. Before that happens though, it has to be either flattened or crushed into a cube using a large-scale baler. The resultant cube-shaped cars are sometimes referred to as bales – yes, just like hay! Once it\u2019s been forcibly transformed, then it\u2019s ready to be shredded.<\/p>\n The bales or flattened cars are sent to a specialist machine, which shreds them into pieces no larger than a tennis ball. Then, smaller pieces of the vehicle are passed along a conveyor, where a vacuum sucks any lightweight materials away. Magnets are used in a similar way to separate heavy steels and ferrous metals from the mix.<\/p>\n Then, the remains of the car are passed through a heavy media separator, which contains a fluid that causes non-ferrous metals – such as copper, aluminium and brass – to float to the top, so that they can be removed. It might sound simple, but it\u2019s all a surprisingly sophisticated process for making sure your old car is effectively recycled.<\/p>\n Before you send your car off to be recycled, you first need to make sure that the DVLA is aware you\u2019ve scrapped your vehicle. The most important effect of this is that it stops you from having to pay tax on it unnecessarily.<\/p>\n There\u2019s another reason, though; it also prevents the danger of any unscrupulous dealers from telling you they\u2019ve scrapped your car, when in reality they\u2019ve simply patched it up and sold it on. This generally means it\u2019s still registered to you, so if anything goes wrong with your old vehicle, or it\u2019s somehow used illegally, it could be your door the DVLA comes knocking to.<\/p>\nHow much of a car is recyclable?<\/h2>\n
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<\/p>\nWhat parts of a car can be recycled for money?<\/h3>\n
How is a car recycled?<\/h3>\n
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<\/p>\nWhat happens after a car is crushed?<\/h3>\n
What to do before recycling your car<\/h4>\n