Green Auto Recycling

How?

When a vehicle reaches the end of its useful life, it is picked up as per your phone or e-mail request and taken to one of our Authorized Treatment Facilities (ATF's) where all harmful materials are removed. All facilities are inspected prior to accreditation. Each of our accredited Authorized Treatment Facilities will pick up your vehicle and change the ownership/title into their respective companies name. Once all harmful materials have been removed, all fluids are drained into proper containers, making sure nothing seeps into the ground. Any reusable parts are recycled or reused, the remaining vehicle is then sent off to be shredded where metal recovery is initiated. Often an auto wrecker is involved in this part of the process.

Basic steps in the end-of-life treatment process
Pre-treatment
draining of all fluids and of hazardous materials, removal of batteries, etc..

Reuse
components are reused if possible after removal.

Recycling
the manufacture of new products with equal or lower quality requirements made of vehicle components.

Energy recovery
incineration and energy withdrawal.

Only when the above measures are deemed unfeasible does the waste material end up at landfill sites.

Why?

Traditionally, when a vehicle has come to the end of its useful life it is taken to an auto recycler. This vehicle is then stripped by a dismantler, removing any parts that may be sold for reuse and environmentally harming materials such as fluids and batteries. The remainder of this vehicle is then sold to a shredding operation. At these "shredders", the hulk of the vehicle is broken down into much smaller pieces (about the size of a fist). This is where the separation of ferrous and non-ferrous metals takes place. Although the percentage of recycled End Of Life Vehicles is currently much higher than any other consumer product, 408,000 tons of material nonetheless ends up at landfill sites every single year within the United States alone. The recycler then sells the used auto parts thereby saving valuable resources and making a profit along the way.

The End of Life vehicles Directive aims to prevent waste from end-of life vehicles and promote the collection, re-use and recycling of their components to protect the environment.

The types of materials that end up at land fill sites each year include plastics, rubber, glass, dirt, carpet fibers and seat foam, the composition of the above-mentioned materials is more commonly known as Automotive Shredder Residue (ASR) and presents a huge consumption and waste management problem.

FACT:

Every year in the United States alone, 10-11 million vehicles reach the end of their useful life and deregistered and taken off the road.

Of the amount of vehicles that have reached the end of their lives, salvage and shredder facilities currently process 94%. ASR comprises 25% of these vehicles by weight or 75% by volume. The resulting waste product cannot be recycled. This amount is staggering considering that ASR is comprised of materials that are considered both non-recyclable and recyclable. If ASR is comprised of both recyclable and non-recyclable material, the question is then raised that given the negative impact of ASR why aren't greater measures taken to ensure the amount of ASR that reaches landfills is decreased. As stated, ASR includes materials such as plastics, foam, rubber and glass. The problems of resource-consumption and waste-management are then exacerbated every single year as vehicle producers use more fibers and plastics in order to make their products more competitive by weight and fuel efficiency requirements. The crying shame is that although some of the ASR components can be recycled, the "current network does not separate them for recycling". To keep up-to-date on current green initiatives I like to read green forums and green blogs. Debate on this topic has lead to the conclusion that producers must be made accountable for the end-impact of their product (s) upon the environment. This lead to the conception of the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) principle which states:

"Considering the life cycle of a product from manufacture until the end of its useful life, producers, material suppliers, trade, consumers and public authorities share specific waste management responsibilities. However it is the product manufacturer who has a predominant role since he takes key decisions concerning his product which largely determine its waste management potential."
Extract from the EU Community Strategy on Waste Management, 1996

Moreover, "Producers have to be responsible for the life cycle environmental impact of their products." This is very important so we can turn junk cars into money for the consumer. Many customers donate their car to charity and some use it to purchase a new car.

The principle was created given the logic that the producers are the only group who could adequately assess the impact of materials chosen in the production phase and their final impact in their disposal, not to mention the damaging effect of their product during its useful years.