Recycling A Car

RECYCLING A CAR If it's not profitable to repair a vehicle, the course taken after scrapping is recycling. Some pieces might be used on other vehicles, but the car as a whole can be broken down and much of it put to new use. First the vehicle needs to go through a de-pollution process. Cars contain a number of hazardous materials and these need to be removed before anything else can be done with the vehicle. Various contaminants include things like windscreen wash and antifreeze, oil and fuel, and the battery, each of which could prove to be a health risk if not disposed of safely. Oil can be filtered and used again, and once the acid has been neutralised + and the water cleaned then batteries can be taken apart for their components, the metals melted down and reused. The entire vehicle will be dismantled as part of the recycling process. Precious metals are removed from the catalytic converters and can be reused to make new ones or repurposed for other products like electronics or jewellery. The tyres can be either be reused on another vehicle, if in good enough condition, or used for bumpers on things like race track corners. Shredded, they can be used for children's playgrounds or football pitches, or as part of the base material for new roads. Glass can be reused, too. It can be recycled into new glass, tiles, countertops, or builders' sand. Recycled glass also cuts down on the gallons of oil used to produce new glass. Many of the plastics, as well, can be reused. Leather can be recycled, turned into bags and belts, while fabrics can find themselves becoming a component in home furnishings. Once the car has been stripped of all hazardous material, and any components that can be reused or repurposed, it is destroyed. But even then, much of it finds new use. The steel, for example, which makes up about 65% of the recycled vehicle, can be melted down and turned into new sheets of metal. Recycling steel in this way is very environmentally friendly, using far fewer resources and over 70% less energy than it would take to create new steel from freshly mined iron ore. So, if you're scrapping your car, that's some of what will happen to it. And do bear in mind, if you are scrapping your car for recycling and you have a private number plate, be sure to retain this onto a certificate first or it will be lost with the car! Designed & Compiled by: 01792 477316 PLATES4LESS wwW.PLATES4LESS.CO.UK FOR ALL YOUR PRIVATE NUMBER PLATE NEEDS