Did you know that the automobile is the most recycled consumer product out there? Every day auto recyclers in Victoria, BC dismantle countless automobiles and prepare them for recycling. This involves stripping a car of all its reusable parts, such as the engine, interior pieces, and wheels. Eventually the car is separated into its primary pieces, like the body, and unusable parts which are recycled in their own way. Many people understand the first stage of auto recycling, such as reusing the headlights for another car, but not many people realize that the core components of a car are recycled as well. If you have ever wondered where car bodies end up, then read ahead.
Reuse, refurbish or recycle
After complete dismantling, cars are typically left in several core pieces. This usually includes the car body and various components of the chassis. The rest of the parts taken off of the car fall into several categories: reuse, refurbish, or recycle. Parts that are reused immediately often are sold directly from an auto recycler in Victoria, BC to the general public, usually because they have no noticeable defects. This might include headlights that are undamaged, bought for a car which has been in an accident.
Refurbishing car parts is a similar process to recycling. In this case, a piece is removed, sent to a manufacturer, and then resold to the general public. In the interim, a part such as an alternator will have had all its internal pieces replaced, then undergo testing, all before it is resold to the public. Finally, some pieces cannot be resold or refurbished. In this case the part is broken down into what gets recycled and what goes to the trash heap.
Once this process is completely finished, a mere skeleton of the car remains. As mentioned above, this usually includes a stripped down auto body and an empty chassis. Many people assume at this point the car is sent off to a junk yard to slowly decompose, but this is very wrong. Indeed, around 75% of these core parts get recycled for their metal contents, leaving only a small margin to go to junk heaps. In fact, that remainder is actually useful as well; it often is broken down as filler to lay on top of garbage at landfills serving all sorts of important duties. That story can be saved for another time.
Sustainability
Millions of tons of steel and iron are saved from automobiles every year. This is because 65% of what can get recycled is steel and iron, some of which actually was recycled previously. The steel industry buys and recycles this metal using special techniques to not weaken it; interestingly steel is one of the few metals that can get reused numerous times without losing its strength.
All of this recycled metal has a great impact on the industry. It saves the steel industry costs on energy and production, it means less burning of fossil fuels, and it keeps more minerals in the earth. Auto recyclers in Victoria, BC understand the value of completely recycling automobiles; it’s good for the economy and the environment.