The Ultimate Environmental Choice
It may not seem like a monumental choice to re-use good quality parts from another vehicle, but the resulting savings in energy, raw materials and pollution is astronomical.
By using Green Recycled Parts, you’ll be helping to sustain a modern global recycling industry that reclaims over 12 million vehicles across North America annually.
Auto recycling is the ultimate environmental choice. No other product on earth is recycled more than an automobile. Not only does it keep a flood of dangerous toxins from being released into our ground and water, it prevents unnecessary use of valuable landfill. And by reducing the need for new parts to be manufactured, you’ll be preserving scarce natural resources and cutting down on the resulting pollution.
Fast Environmental Facts
- Over 80% of the entire vehicle by weight is reused, re-manufactured or recycled.
- Recycled parts save an estimated 80 million barrels of oil annually that would be required to produce new replacement parts.
- Auto recycling provides about 40% of the ferrous metal for the scrap processing industry across North America.
- Substituting low-sulphur scrap metal for high-sulphur raw ore can reduce a steel mill’s air pollution by as much as 86% and water pollution by 76%.
- The amount of toxic oils and fluids safely reclaimed by auto recyclers is equivalent to eight Exxon Valdez disasters every year!
The Green Recycled Parts Process
The modern auto recycling process is a model of environmental responsibility. Each vehicle goes through a methodical process designed to maximize the amount of material that can be reclaimed and to minimize the environmental impact.
Oil, gas and operating fluids pose a significant risk to the environment. Trained technicians carefully drain all the fluids and store them for reuse or recycling. Special equipment and methods are used in order to prevent any groundwater contamination. An average of 40 litres of fluids are removed from each vehicle and are used, re-used or responsibly disposed of.
The unusable portion of the vehicle is then crushed and sent to be shredded into fist-sized pieces for recovery. The valuable ferrous and non-ferrous metals are then separated and reused to make new cars and other products you buy… and the cycle starts again.
Each vehicle is inspected to determine which parts are appropriate for re-use. The VIN number and mileage of vehicle, along with the make, model and year are recorded in order to provide accurate inventory data.
Gas tanks, batteries and tires are all removed and are recycled, reused or disposed of appropriately.
The vehicle is then sent to the dismantling area where parts are removed, inspected and readied for resale. Each part is tagged, coded and entered into a computerized inventory system before it is properly stored.
What Happens to Your Car?
What happens with all the components? Take a look…
Anti-freeze & Washer Fluid
Fluids are separated and resold onsite or sent to reputable recycling facilities to be re-processed and re-used
Batteries
After testing, batteries that are in good condition are sold to customers for re-use. Others are sent to a licensed recycling facility to be rebuilt.
Freon and Other Refrigerants
The gases from air-conditioning systems are carefully removed by licensed technicians to ensure none of them escape into the atmosphere. The used refrigerant is sold to a licensed buyer to be re-used.
Doors & Body Panels
Doors and body panels that are in suitable condition are sold to body shops to repair damaged vehicles. Unusable parts are reclaimed as scrap and the metal is recycled.
Wheels
Wheels are sold for re-use. In some cases they are reconditioned. Damaged wheels are reclaimed as scrap metal.
Tires
Quality tires with lots of tread life are sold for re-use. Other are sent to tire recyclers and processed as tire crumb to make new products or to pave our highways.
Fuel
Using special equipment, gas tanks are punctured, drained and removed. The fuels are used by the auto recyclers in their own equipment or sold for re-use.
Mercury Switches
For a period of time, manufacturers used mercury switches to control convenience lights and ABS systems. Although they are no longer being installed in new vehicles, there are hundreds of thousands of them still in vehicles on the road today. Switch Out is a national program designed to remove these switches from end-of-life vehicles and prevent the highly toxic heavy metal from being released into the environment.
As the Ontario partner, OARA members have recovered thousands of them before they could do harm to our environment. Find out more about Switch Out.