What happens to cars that have been scrapped?

The automobiles are shredded, and the metal content is recovered for recycling, while the remainder is processed by machine for other commodities such as glass and plastics recycling in many locations. The remainder is disposed of in a landfill as car shredder residue.

In the United States alone, 12-15 million vehicles reach the end of their useful lives each year. Even though they are no longer in use, these vehicles can still serve a role by recycling the metal and other recyclable components they contain.

The vehicle shredder residue that is not recovered for metal contains a variety of other recyclable materials, with 30% of it being polymers and 5-10% being residual metals. Modern vehicle recycling strives to recycle those residual materials as cheaply as possible.

The process of recycling a vehicle is extremely complicated due to the numerous parts that must be recycled as well as the numerous hazardous materials that must be removed. In a nutshell, the procedure begins with the inventorying of incoming vehicles for parts. The battery, catalytic converter, wheels, and tires are all gone. Engine coolant, oil, transmission fluid, refrigerant for air conditioning, and fuel are all drained and removed. Electronic modules, alternators, starter motors, infotainment systems, and even entire engines or gearboxes may be removed if they are still serviceable and may be financially sold on, either “as-is” or to a remanufacturer for restoration. Traditionally, the process of separating higher-value elements from the lower-value vehicle body shell has been done by hand. Removing many of the parts is often uneconomical due to the labor-intensive nature of the process.

6 thoughts on “What happens to cars that have been scrapped?”

  1. I read the complete article and I got so much knowledge about scrapped cars and moreover the process of recycling..Thank you man

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