Did you know that over half a million cars are disposed of in Australia each year?
Luckily the scrap metal from cars can be recycled by auto wreckers and recyclers like ourselves, significantly reducing the amount that ends up in the landfill. Here are some more benefits of car recycling that you may not be aware of.
Why Recycle?
A major benefit of car recycling is that the steel from their parts can be reused for other purposes. This means that new ore doesn’t have to be mined and less energy is needed for the manufacture of recycled steel. This results in less air pollution, less water pollution and less mining waste, all a plus for the environment friendly.
Proper recycling of cars also safely disposes of hazardous materials from the vehicle, such as oil, coolant, brake fluid and air conditioning gases that are harmful to the environment and humans.
Why Recycle Waste Oil?
Oil from car engines is extremely polluting to the environment and needs to be disposed of appropriately rather than dumped into landfills or places that can contaminate waterways and groundwater. The Department of the Environment says that “it takes only one litre of oil to contaminate one million litres of water” and that even though oil is dirty, it can be cleaned and reused and incorporated into other products. Although Australians are becoming better at recycling oil, 25 per cent of the waste oil could still potentially be recycled.
Why Recycle Batteries?
Recycling lead-acid car batteries prevent the leaking of sulphuric acid and lead into the environment. Lead is a highly toxic substance and causes health issues if ingested such as brain and kidney damage, so the less lead in the environment the better. Fortunately, 99 per cent of battery components can be reused for manufacturing new batteries. It also requires a lot less energy to recover lead from batteries than to produce it from ore.
Why Recycle Tyres?
In Australia, 17 million tyres are estimated to be dumped each year and a large proportion of these end up in landfills or are burnt which creates significant air pollution and the runoff contaminates groundwater. As well as taking up space in landfills, stockpiled tyres can attract mosquitoes, become a fire hazard and are a waste of resources that can be used for other purposes. Some uses of recycled tyres include insulation blocks, compost bins, ute mats, vegetable planters and road surfacing.
Why Recycle Scrap Metals?
An average scrap car removal contains over a metric tonne of steel, so the fact that auto recyclers have, historically, tended to concentrate on steel car parts should come as no surprise. Once a car has been dismantled, most steel parts can be separated, magnetically, from other recyclable materials, melted down and rolled into new flat sheet steel, with no loss of quality. Recycled steel can be used for a variety of purposes, including cars, construction materials and steel cans, at a fraction of the cost, in terms of energy and resources, of manufacturing the same items by smelting ‘virgin’ iron ore.
Why Recycle Auto Glasses?
For safety purposes, automotive glass is typically laminated or tempered, which traditionally made it difficult to recycle. However, recycling techniques have improved over the years, such that glass is a fundamental part of scrap car recycling. Recycled glass, broken into smaller pieces, known as cullet, melts at a lower temperature than silica sand and the other raw materials required to manufacture glass from scratch. Consequently, the use of reclaimed automotive glass not only reduces the quantity of glass entering landfills but saves energy and reduces air and water pollution. Furthermore, once reclaimed, glass can be recycled over and over again.
Why Recycled Plastic Car Parts?
Nowadays, literally, dozens of tough, lightweight plastics are used in cars, so the reclamation of plastic car parts, such as dashboards, bumpers and so on, is another sound reason to recycle your car for cash. An average old car removal already contains up to 200kg of plastic parts, mainly injection moulded, which can be separated, shredded and broken down into long-chain molecules called polymers. Recycling plastic keeps valuable raw materials out of the landfill and allows them to be reused in products such as recycled auto parts, carpets and garden furniture, among others.
Why Recycle Mats & Carpets?
Unwanted rubber and fabric floor mats and carpeting are often difficult items of which to dispose of, but there are plenty of good reasons why they should be recycled. Carpeting, for example, is rarely, if ever, biodegradable, but rather than entering a landfill can be shredded and recycled into brand-new floor coverings, home furnishings, construction materials and automotive parts. Recycled rubber, too, produces substantial savings in terms of energy, resources and pollution, when compared with ‘virgin’ rubber. This is especially true in the case of synthetic rubber, which consumes non-renewable hydrocarbon resources, such as oil and coal, during its manufacturing process.
Who Can Recycle?
Auto wreckers such as Metalbiz have accredited auto recyclers that can offer you cash for scrap cars. We operate throughout the Brisbane and Gold Coast and will take cars, 4WDs, trucks and vans, any kind of vehicle you have, so give us a call today!
Last updated on September 28th, 2023 at 07:07 am