Has your vehicle given up and died for good? Sometimes it’s just not worth repairing a vehicle, or it may have been in a serious accident, rendering it useless forever. When this happens, it may be that you have to scrap your vehicle. You may be wondering just what is done with these vehicles.
Removal of Hazardous Materials
The first phase of scrapping a vehicle is to ensure there are no hazardous materials in the vehicle. This means certain things need to be removed from the vehicle. These include:
Airbags: They are dangerous as they can explode and contain chemicals.
Petrol tank: This is considered dangerous, as well, because petrol or diesel fumes are flammable.
Seat belt pretensioners: The pretensioners contain pyrotechnic charges, so they are another hazardous piece that must be pulled.
Battery: The car battery contains acid and lead, both of which are dangerous and must be kept away from the recycling facility.
Fluid Removal
You can’t simply pour out the fluids that are contained in a vehicle, so it’s important to remove them all. If they’re simply dumped, they will cause soil and water contamination. Everything from anti-freeze and coolants to oil and petrol must be correctly eliminated and disposed of. If there are car parts that come into contact with these fluids, they are also removed.
Tyre Recycling
The final step before the car is crushed is to remove the tyres. In most cases, tyres can be recycled, so they will be taken care of before going back into the supply line. These are usually passed on to a proper recycling centre designed for tyres as soon as possible, because they are also a potential fire hazard.
Crushing and Separating
There are many different materials used in a car, so it’s important to separate these all out. The metal can be crushed and recycled, of course, but there will also be plastic and fibres to be collected for recycling.
In the end, most of the parts for the vehicle can be recycled, which allows for it to be reused, rather than simply sitting forever. This is the most eco-friendly method of eliminating your vehicle once it is considered scrap metal.
Find a reputable car recycling facility and have them take care of the vehicle. This will save you a lot of time and energy trying to do the various parts yourself and they will usually pay for the vehicle. It may not be a lot, but it is better than nothing.
Need to have your vehicle scrapped? Newbery Recycling will gladly take care of it for you. Get in touch today to find out more about how we can help you.