Car and Auto Recycling and Scrapping
There comes a time for many car owners when their car is no longer needed but may also have little to no resale value. What to do then? Ollie Recycles is here to share some great options people can look into who are researching vehicle recycling programs, including car recycling, how you can get cash for cars (including junk cars), and how to determine the best car recycling program for your vehicle.
What do you do with old cars?
When it comes time to part with your old car, numerous options are available. And that’s a good thing because newer cars are better for the environment and your wallet, as they get better mileage and have fewer emissions.
Consider the following three options, each of which we’ll examine in more detail:
- Car Recycling. Recycling your car with a car recycling program is a great way to limit waste. If everyone recycled their vehicles instead of trashing them, it could keep as much as a half-million tons of waste out of the landfill each year.
- Car Donation. Another green option can be donating your car to a nonprofit charity. These charities either use your vehicles or help pass them to others who need them via donations or discounted sales. Many of these donations are also tax-deductible.
- Car Scrapping. Scrapping the entire vehicle or selling the parts from your old car. Either option can get you cash and keep your old car out of the landfill. Auto shops sometimes buy parts; better options are often junkyards and scrap metal yards.
How do you recycle a car?
Car recycling is often the most environmentally friendly option if you have an old junker you need to get off your hands. Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to recycle your car.
Auto recycling is big business, too. Check out these 10 car recycling statistics.
Top 10 Car Recycling Statistics
- Nearly 12 million vehicles are retired each year.
- 95% of these vehicles are recycled.
- And nearly every part of the vehicle can be recycled—often 90% or more!
- The auto recycling industry is one of the largest in the country—the 16th largest.
- To show you how big that is, auto recycling contributes $25 billion to the national gross domestic product (GDP) each year.
- For instance, 220 million tires are retired each year.
- Of those, nearly 80% get recycled – often as pavement base or as a running track or playground surface.
- Auto glass gets recycled as tile floors, glass beads, countertops, jewelry, and more.
- Auto batteries get recycled to make new batteries.
- The metal parts of each car -steel and iron used in the frame- are also recycled and upcycled into other products.
All of that sounds great. But how does car recycling work? In general, there are a few steps involved:
- Research the car recycling programs available to you. We’ll offer some tips later on finding the best car recycling program for you, but another good source may be your trusted auto mechanic. If you have a shop you trust, asking them who they recommend doesn’t hurt. While you can sell your car part-by-part, this isn’t worth the hassle for most car owners.
- Research charity options. Depending on the condition and value of your car, this may or may not be an option. Still, it doesn’t hurt to see which nonprofit charities in your area can take your donated car and help use it within their own nonprofit or for someone needing a vehicle. Additionally, this can be a significant tax write-off – just be sure to ask plenty of questions and keep all documentation for later tax purposes.
- Consider the services each car recycling program might offer. Each of the following points is worth consideration: availability of quotes, pickup versus dropoff, cash versus check regarding payoffs, business hours, paperwork assistance, such as transferring the title and registration, and assistance with any eligible tax deductions.
- Check environmental records. Some car recycling businesses have a better track record than others. Fortunately, the Automotive Recyclers Association (ARA) gives a Certified Automotive Recycler (CAR) certification to companies that uphold specific environmental standards. You should check whether your car recycling program has this or similar certifications.
- Prepare your car for recycling. This generally takes a few steps, including clearing your stuff out of your vehicle. It’s easy to leave things in the glove box, under a seat, or tucked in the corner of the truck. So be thorough in ensuring you aren’t leaving anything in the vehicle before you recycle it. Some car recycling centers may also want you to siphon out any gas in the tank.
- Cancel your car insurance. Once you hand over your vehicle, there’s no sense in paying insurance on a car that is no longer your responsibility. Often, you can work with a recycling agent to schedule cancellation in advance, too, once you know when you will be handing over the title and registration.
- Take your license plates. Regulations will differ between states, but you may be able to use them on a different vehicle or keep them as a keepsake.
- Transfer your title and registration. Sometimes, you will also need the license plates as part of this process. Good car recycling programs should be able to guide you through the necessary steps of this part of the process.
- Arrange a pickup or dropoff time. Take photos for your records if anything goes wrong or you need additional documentation for tax purposes later.
- Request proof of destruction or other similar documentation. This might also be necessary for later tax purposes.
Another thing to consider? The timeliness of your actions. If you no longer use a vehicle, there’s no point in paying insurance and registration on it. Similarly, some cities may have fines for non-operative cars, even if stored on your private property. There may also be occasional special programs that can help you get more money for car recycling, such as the Car Allowance Rebate System CARS, also known as Cash for Clunkers, which helped Americans get cash for recycling nearly three-quarters of a million cars.
How are discarded automobiles recycled?
As for how it works at the car recycling facility itself, that’s a several-step process:
- The car recycling program inspects your vehicle to determine if it may be more valuable to repair (and sell as a whole vehicle), break down (and sell for parts), or recycle. If recycling is the most cost-effective option, the facility starts by preparing the car for dismantling.
- Draining fluids and dismantling is the next step. Gas, oil, antifreeze, brake fluid, and other fluids are removed and disposed of or filtered and reused. After fluids have been drained, big pieces (such as the engine block and transmission) are removed, as are any other usable pieces. Likewise, the tires are pulled off, and the battery is removed.
- Pieces or parts that can be recovered for resale or reuse are either stored for use in repairing others or sold to auto shops or auto part manufacturers.
- Finally, after all of the recyclable car parts minus the metal frame are sorted out and either sold or stored, the metal body itself is crushed and shredded into a flat metal chunk roughly the size of a small microwave, which can then be sold to metal recycling facilities.
What vehicles are most commonly recycled, though? The answer to that depends on where you look, but car recycling trends generally seem to correspond to the most popular vehicles of the previous decade or earlier. As a result, we can guess at the 10 most popular cars recycled by looking at the ten most popular vehicles of all time.
Auto Recycling Statistics
10 most popular cars recycled
- Toyota Corolla – with 43 million vehicles sold since 1966
- Ford F-Series – with more than 40 million vehicles sold since the Ford F-150 was first built (then known as the Ford Bonus Built) in 1948
- Volkswagen Golf – also known as the Rabbit, more than 30 million have been sold since 1974
- Volkswagen Beetle – first built in Germany in 1938, 24 million Beetles have since been sold, often as a counterculture symbol
- Lada Riva – also known as the Lada Nova or AutoVAZ VAZ-2101, the Soviet-designed Fiat 124-inspired vehicle has sold more than 20 million since 1980
- Honda Civic – 18 million Civics have been sold since 1972
- Ford Escort – Originally sold in Europe starting in 1968, 18 million Escorts have been sold since
- Honda Accord – Roughly 18 million Accords have sold since 1976
- Ford Model T – Despite not having been produced in more than 80 years, the 16.5 million Model Ts that sold starting in 1908 make it one of the most popular vehicles of all time
- Volkswagon Passat – also known as the Dasher or Quantum, 16 million Passats have been sold since 1973
What parts of a car can be recycled for money?
A surprising number of parts can be recycled. Let’s look at some of the best ways to maximize the cash you get from your vehicle:
- Fenders. Because fenders and bumpers are often connected, they can be expensive to replace – meaning used fenders have a great secondary market.
- Doors. In addition to whole doors, individual components also have a tremendous secondary market, and a door can be broken down into those individual components to maximize resale value.
- Catalytic Converters. In particular, the precious metals in catalytic converters help drive their resale value.
- Bumpers. Similar to fenders, the fact that bumpers and fenders are often connected means there can be a great secondary market, as they can otherwise be expensive to replace after an accident. Additionally, the fact that bumpers are a combination of layered parts, including plastics, fiberglass composites, aluminum, and steel, helps drive their value.
- Batteries. Recycling your car battery is more about protecting the environment than making much cash. Still, you can drive the value of your battery higher by refurbishing it with Epsom salt and distilled water in a relatively simple process.
- Air Conditioning Components. In particular, air conditioning compressors can get good returns on the secondary market.
- Airbags. In particular, installing airbags is expensive, and as a result, some people will opt to buy unused airbags from the secondary market as a way of saving money.
- Wheels, Tires, and Rims. Each piece can have distinct value depending on wear and how readily available otherwise the piece may be.
- Tailgates. This is especially true of custom or specialized tailgates.
Of course, another important question is whether or not you have the time to find buyers or research fair prices. Most people are right to value their time, which is why finding a car recycling program that will give you cash for cars upfront is often a better option, especially if they offer free towing, quick pick-up times, and are willing to pay you on the spot for your junk car.
How much of a car is recyclable?
While this varies from model to model, many estimates are 90% or more, especially once the liquids have been drained. As a result, cars and trucks in North America generally are 20% post-consumer recycled, at least by weight. Given that 95% of all vehicles retired each year in the United States are processed for recycling, automobile recycling has the highest recycling rate in the country. Nearly 12 million cars are recycled yearly – roughly 26 cars each minute.
This adds up quickly—with 25 million tons of materials recycled from old vehicles yearly. Metal is the most recycled part of the vehicle, but again, as much as 90% of each vehicle may be recycled.
How much do you get for scrapping a car?
Most people think they can’t get much money back for their junk car, but cash for cars can vary pretty widely depending on the year, make, and model of your vehicle, as well as your location and condition. Kelley Blue Book says that junk vehicles can count on a value of 20-40 percent of their normal used value, but even that is only a rough estimate.
A big part of the range of value is the condition of your vehicle and how the scrapyard will use your vehicle. If your car can be fixed up and resold with minimal work, that might mean the scrapyard is willing to pay a bit more. However, if your car is complete junk, they might only be interested in your vehicle for scrap metal.
In the case of complete junk, cash for cars tends to be pretty low. The main reason for this is that the price of scrap steel has plummeted in the last few years, so while the amount of work that goes into scrapping a car remains the same, the value of that car has not.
So, while the various parts of a car can be resold and recycled provided they’re still in good shape, for instance, the most significant value of junk cars is often the frame and related infrastructure. For example, the average car or truck contains between 2,400 and 3,000 pounds of steel, which accounts for 50-60 percent of the vehicle’s weight. An additional 300 pounds of aluminum (on average) is also part of your car’s scrap vehicle.
But if the price of scrap metals drops, as they have precipitously in recent years, there’s less money to be made at scrap yards for scrapping your car. Scrap metal is usually sold by the ton (2,000 pounds).
Chinese steel production and other factors have contributed to the dropping price of scrap steel, as there is a lower steel demand. As a result, from a high of $480 per ton of car scrap steel in February 2015, the current rate for car scrap steel is hovering around $60. That means that the scrap value of your car, which might have once been $500-1000 a few years ago, may now be only $50-100.
In particular, because there is less demand for steel and low prices, semi-finished steel (known as billet) is sometimes used instead of scrap because the price is comparable. That means there isn’t much of a market for scrap steel right now, and that hurts scrapping prices.
So, the short answer? If you’re looking to scrap your car, keep your expectations low, and you might be pleasantly surprised. Remember that any money you get for your scrap car is money you didn’t have before and helps get your junk car off your hands. Any cash for cars is better than no cash for cars.
What happens to a scrapped car?
As noted above, scrap metal prices are currently low, so the demand for scrapped cars is similarly low. Many scrap yards are simply stockpiling their vehicles, waiting for prices to go back up; others have gone out of business or stopped accepting scrap cars.
Those cars that are accepted, however, are broken down. Parts can be sold, and the metals are separated out before being crushed into sheets that are then sold in bulk.
Car recycling places near me
Numerous car recycling programs and junk car programs can help you find the locations near you that might be a good fit, including sites like Junk My Car, SA Recycling, Junk Car Medics, and Cash Auto Salvage.
How can I get the most money for my junk car?
Doing your research is the best way to ensure you get maximum value for your car in a cash-for-cars or car recycling program. Call each car recycling program or scrapyard in your area for a quote, and ask relevant questions. Making a list ahead of time may help. Consider whether or not they charge for towing, if they ever change their prices after giving a quote (many places do, which, depending on the exchange, can leave a sour taste in your mouth), and how they handle paperwork, for instance.
If you do your research, however, you’ll be able to negotiate a better price for your vehicle.
Car Recycling for cash near me
If the cash part of the cash for cars or car recycling appeals to you, sites like Cash Auto Salvage can help you find a location near you.
Car Recycling Resources:
- https://www.allstate.com/blog/tired-of-your-clunker-what-to-do-with-your-old-car/
- https://www.moneytalksnews.com/money-making-from-old-beater-car/
- https://www.junkcarmedics.com/blog/what-to-do-with-old-car/
- https://www.theguardian.com/money/2014/feb/14/getting-rid-old-car-scrap
- https://www.thebalancesmb.com/how-are-cars-recycled-2877944
- https://recyclenation.com/2018/03/how-are-cars-recycled/
- https://www.wikihow.com/Recycle-Your-Junk-Car
- https://www.autoblog.com/photos/historys-10-bestselling-cars-of-all-time/list/
- https://www.cashautosalvage.com/12-surprisingly-valuable-items-in-a-junk-car/
- https://www.mnn.com/lifestyle/eco-tourism/sponsorstory/13-surprising-car-parts-that-can-be-recycled-and-reused
- https://www.junkcarmedics.com/automobile-recycling-facts-statistics/
- https://www.cashautosalvage.com/much-money-pay-junk-cars/
- https://www.junkcarmedics.com/blog/scrap-car-prices-per-ton/
- https://www.junkmycar.com/
- http://www.sarecycling.com/public/recycle-old-cars/
- https://www.picknpull.com/we_buy_cars.aspx
- https://www.cashautosalvage.com/