Follow us today…
We are hearing more about the “circular economy.” The circular economy is a system designed to keep materials, products, and resources in use for as long as possible. Unlike the traditional linear model of “take, make, and throw away,” the circular economy focuses on “reuse, recycling, and repair.” The goal is to reduce material costs by reducing the extraction of new raw materials. The process reduces environmental impact while creating economic opportunity. One of the most profitable areas is automotive recycling. This has led to a lot of social media buzz.
Here’s a recent post on Reddit by Accomplished-Emu-679 about his automotive recycling business.
“So I’m in the car recycling business
When a car is wrecked and declared a total loss by insurance most people think it goes to the junkyard, but it actually goes to a salvage auction where buyers from around the world bid on vehicles in various conditions and if the high bidder is me it gets recycled,
When I receive the vehicle, I determine if it is in good enough condition to be worth repairing, if it is not then it gets stripped for parts, engine, transmission, wheels, body panels, modules, seats, harnesses, pretty much everything that I can put a price on gets listed for sale, everything gets mailed out with mostly used cardboard boxes from Amazon packages etc.
The fluids of the vehicle gets recycled as well, the gasoline goes right into my car, all the oils, engine oil, trans fluid, brake fluid, get taken to recycling, it gets used as fuel for asphalt plants most of the time, AC refrigerant is recycled as well along with coolant. Tires are sold if they are in good shape, otherwise they go to recycling…”
Blu_yello_husky responded with a comment about how he disposed of his car:
“Yards take cars even without a title. Sell it as scrap steel, not as a full car. I got rid of my stripped down parts car a few years back without a title, got $300 scrap price for it.”
yipyapyallcatsnbirds added:
“Call a car scrapper. Those dudes will come to your house and tow it away plus give you anywhere between 250-500 bucks for the car. Win win if you don’t care about the money.”
In a previous article, we talked about the fascinating process of recycling EV batteries at an industrial scale. Now we’ll delve into the rest of the car.
Using recycled metals like steel and aluminum doesn’t just slash emissions, it’s much less expensive. Making aluminum from recycled material takes just 5 percent of the energy needed to produce it from raw bauxite. For steel, energy use drops by about 70 percent when switching to recycled inputs.
Lower energy means lower costs. Mining, refining, and transporting virgin materials is expensive, unpredictable, and fuel-intensive. Recycled metals skip those steps. They’re already processed and often sourced locally, which cuts down on transportation costs and supply chain headaches. These savings scale fast, especially in industries like automotive manufacturing where metal use is massive.
What happens at the end of a vehicle’s life is a fascinating transformation. It’s an informal “hub and spoke” model with locally distributed “crushers” sending materials to large recycling plants.
The journey begins at a crusher yard, where aging vehicles arrive for their final chapter. The first step is to safely remove hazardous fluids like engine oil, coolant, brake fluid, and fuel. Special holes are drilled to drain these liquids, preventing them from seeping into the environment.
Once the car is drained, workers strip away usable parts. Doors, engines, transmissions, mirrors, wheels, and even window switches are salvaged. These components often find new homes in other vehicles, helping drivers repair their own cars without the steep cost of brand-new parts. For many, it’s an affordable, eco-conscious alternative to shopping at a dealership.
Crushing What Can’t Be Reused
After everything useful has been removed, the shell of the car is ready for the crusher. This is the part most gearheads would rather not see. A massive crane drops the car into a hydraulic compactor. With a force of up to 600 tons, the machine flattens the vehicle into a dense hunk of metal, ready to be loaded onto a train and shipped to a recycling yard.
Advertising
This isn’t just destruction for the sake of it. It’s preparation. Crushed cars are easier to transport and handle during the next stage of the recycling process.
Shredding and Sorting
At the recycling plant, the real transformation begins. The crushed vehicles are cut into more manageable chunks, then fed onto a conveyor belt that leads into a powerful industrial shredder. With about 2,000 horsepower behind it, the shredder rips through steel, plastic, fabric, and anything else left behind.
The result is a mix of materials that needs sorting. A magnetic drum pulls steel from the pile. Separate processes extract valuable metals like aluminum. The remaining non-recyclable debris is sent to landfills. Typically only a small percentage couldn’t be salvaged.
A New Purpose for Old Metal
Once the materials are sorted, the valuable metals are gathered into towering piles. Tractors load them onto trains, which carry the metal to processing plants. There, the metal is melted down to be used a raw material for new products. It could become a washing machine, a toaster, part of a bridge, or even part of a new car.
Electric Vehicles Are Easier to Recycle
Electric vehicles like the Tesla Model Y already have an advantage over internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles. There are no oil filters, spark plugs, or complex transmissions to dismantle. There is no gasoline to drain or evaporative emission systems to worry about. With fewer hazardous fluids and fewer moving parts, the recycling process becomes cleaner, faster, and more cost-effective.
In its design process, Tesla placed a priority on making end of life recycling more cost effective. The Tesla Model Y uses massive aluminum “gigacastings” that replace dozens of smaller welded components with just a few large structural parts. Tesla says that the Model Y rear underbody is created using a Giga Press, which injects about 80 kg of molten aluminum into a cold-chamber mold in under a second to form a single-piece structure.
Gigacastings not only simplify production, they also make recycling more efficient. At the end of the vehicle’s life, fewer materials need to be separated, and large aluminum castings can be quickly identified, removed, and melted down with minimal processing.
Tesla designs many of its parts with recycling in mind. The company uses a modular approach to the battery packs used in the Model Y, making it easier to remove, refurbish, or repurpose the cells. Components like electric motors, control units, and wiring harnesses are engineered to be disassembled with fewer steps compared to traditional gas-powered cars.
Because of their simplified architecture and recyclable materials, EVs aren’t just better for the planet while they drive. They also leave a lighter footprint when they reach the end of the road. On average, 80 percent of each recycled vehicle’s mass can be reused in some form. This is an excellent example of the circular economy at work.
Please Drop Your Thoughts in the Comments Below
Do you think automakers should be legally required to design cars with recycling in mind?
Do you believe EVs are truly easier to recycle than gas cars? Why or why not?
Chris Johnston is the author of SAE’s comprehensive book on electric vehicles, “The Arrival of The Electric Car.” His coverage on Torque News focuses on electric vehicles. Chris has decades of product management experience in telematics, mobile computing, and wireless communications. Chris has a B.S. in electrical engineering from Purdue University and an MBA. He lives in Seattle. When not working, Chris enjoys restoring classic wooden boats, open water swimming, cycling and flying (as a private pilot). You can connect with Chris on LinkedIn and follow his work on X at ChrisJohnstonEV.
Image sources: Tesla media kit
Follow us today…
Source: torquenews.com
