As environmental regulations tighten, end of life automotive recycling practices are becoming popular for automakers, ensuring that old vehicles are dismantled and recycled responsibly targeting a circular economy.
United States is the pioneer of the automotive industry and is currently the second largest manufacturer of the automobiles by volume. Around 1.7 million motor vehicles were produced in United States in 2023 and now it has become the most crucial element of the American economy.
In the fourth quarter of 2023, there were around 288.5 million vehicles operating on roads throughout the United States. Nearly 92% of U.S. households have at least one automobile, and over 21% own three or more vehicles.
The 21st century is no stranger to the word “Sustainable”. The sustainable practices are encouraged in all the sectors globally. In the United States, nearly 15 million vehicles are recycled every year having a market size of $82.5 billion in 2023.
Automobiles are the No. 1 most recycled consumer products in the world where roughly 75-80% of a car's material can be recycled and reused. The remaining 20% non-recyclable materials are however recyclable for other products but normally incinerating non-recyclable material contributes to carbon pollution through the release of smoke into the environment.
BMW i-Vision Circular Car - A Concept Car with 100% Recycled Components
The BMW i Vision Circular is a concept for an electric compact car in 2040 that aims to reduce components and use 100% recycled materials
Which Car Components are Recyclable
There are 24 types of materials used in manufacturing conventional cars including Steel, Aluminum, Plastic and Thermoplastics, Rubber, Fabric, Poly Vinyl Chloride (PVC), Glass and Alloy etc. The non-recyclable materials include tire rims, brake rotors and radiators etc.
On the other hand, use of sustainable materials in car manufacturing is increasing because these are cost effective, lighter and stronger, enhancing fuel efficiency and support emission reduction. For instance, carbon fiber composites, lightweight than steel yet stronger, make the vehicles safe and more fuel-efficient.
Car Recycling Process
When a vehicle gets to a point where its usefulness is largely expended due to age, mileage, condition, needs of repair or expense of maintenance, the vehicle reaches its end-of-life point.
However, damage to a transportation asset through collision or mechanical failure will bypass a timeline of normal deterioration and depreciation period and will therefore be recycled before its end-of-life point.
Each year, automobile recycling yields enough steel to produce nearly 13 million new vehicles. Vehicle recyclers use a multi-step process to repurpose the renewable materials from cars, trucks, SUVs, motorcycles, and other modes of transportation.
All the metal, cables, tires, plastic, glass and fiber based components are separated and recycled into new car parts. Glass can be recycled by crushing and melting it down into new windshields, windows, and other car parts. Metals are the easiest parts of a car to recycle.
There are different types of metals in an automotive, including steel, aluminum, and copper. Metals are passed through the shredder and magnets separate ferrous metals from non-ferrous metals. Once separated, all of these metals can be recycled separately after additional processing and used for manufacturing the new car.
Recyclable automobiles are shifted to a junkyard for breaking them down into parts. The recycling process always begin by draining the car’s oil and fuels, otherwise known as the “depollution” process. While some fluids can be reprocessed into new fluids and untreated fluids may contaminate the surroundings, this step is primary for the environmental safety.
Vehicle plastics are also recyclable. The recycling process for plastics begins with sorting the different types of plastic by their resin type, because various resins melt at different temperatures, so they must be processed separately.
Once the plastics are sorted, they are chopped into small pieces and fed into a furnace, where they are melted down. The molten plastic is then poured into molds to create new car parts and other plastic products as well.
Tires can be recycled into new tires, tire treads, and other rubber products. Tire recyclers heat scrap tires to high temperatures (pyrolysis) to encourage decomposition, creating a raw material that companies can use as tire-derived fuel to power machinery. Other processes turn tires into small rubber pellets which will then be used to build new turf fields and tracks.
The third party recyclers of each type of material collect their respective material for recycling where they dismantle, clean, reprocess, retreat and re-manufacture different parts as per requirement of car and other industries.
Recycling of Electric Automobiles
As electric cars become more popular, their eventual disposal poses an environmental threat. For example, batteries of electric vehicles are made of lithium, nickel, and cobalt metals that are rare and difficult to recycle. In the United States alone, over 3.3 million cars on the road are powered by batteries.
When these batteries reach the end of their lifespan, they are often disposed of in landfills where the lead and other toxic metals can leach into the ground and contaminate the ground water.
However, some companies are working on developing recycling technologies for electric car batteries, even though the process is still very expensive and not very efficient.
Automotive Recyclers are being recognized as a critical piece to accomplishing a circular economy in the automotive industry, by safely handling the end of life of gas-powered and electric vehicles, and thus they hold the keys to a more sustainable planet.
Recycling vehicles can have a positive impact on the environment. It can help reduce the amount of waste sent to landfills and incinerators, help save energy and conserve resources and environment.
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