Vehicle Recycling

Subaru Leone 1st generation (Very unusual)

The benefits of selling a junk car to a recycling center. (Photo Credits)

The environmental benefits of putting up an old car to recycling are immense. It will mean fewer resources to manufacture a new car and less scrap, dangerous fluids and chemicals, plus waste lying around.

The website 2GreenEnergy enumerated the positive environmental impact of recycling junk cars. AutoGlass Safety Council        

“There are of number environmental benefits to recycling steel. First and perhaps most noteworthy is that using recycled steel decreases the need to mine for steel which leads to huge scars on the landscape. Other downfalls of steel mining include the likelihood of releasing sediment and metal contamination into local lakes, rivers, and other bodies of water. Mining also leads to a decline in local wildlife and plant populations and can lead to irreversible soil erosion. Another pitfall of steel mining is that it has the potential to greatly decrease the air quality by introducing particulate matter into the air which can lead to numerous health problems.”

Read about the other benefits that have been mentioned here.

How Cars are Recycled

In one of its web entries, WikiPedia explained the whole process of recycling cars. Windshield Wiki  

“The vehicles are shredded and the metal content is recovered for recycling, while in many areas, the rest is further sorted by machine for recycling of additional materials such as glass and plastics. The remainder, known as automotive shredder residue, is put into a landfill. The shredder residue of the vehicles that is not recovered for metal contains 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 are able to be recycled. As the most recycled consumer product, end-of-life vehicles provide the steel industry with more than 14 million tons of steel.”

Read the whole WikiPedia entry here.

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The New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services also came up with a comprehensive guide on recycling old cars, including community trivia on it.

“Motor vehicles are the #1 recycled product in the US. In New Hampshire, over 50,000 vehicles reach their end of life each year — enough cars to fill both lanes of I-93 from Concord to Littleton! Over 85% of the material in motor vehicles, by weight, is recyclable.

A single motor vehicle typically contains 5-10 gallons of fluid (gasoline, antifreeze, oil, etc.) when it’s scrapped. One gallon of gasoline can contaminate 750,000 gallons of water — enough water to supply the average American for 20 years.”

Read the continuation here.

Recycling cars is yet another eco-friendly way of disposing used materials.

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