Smart Recycling: What Do We Salvage From Your Car?
7th Dec, 2016
At Scrap Car Network we hate to waste. This week we tell you about some of the things we save from the scrapheap.
We’re big on environmental initiatives here at Scrap Car Network. Every time we scrap your car, we first strip it for any useful parts or materials that can be reused, resold or repurposed. In case you’re curious about what those might be, in this blog we’ve put together just a sample of the items that often find new homes, safe from the crushing disappointment of being compacted in landfill.
Redistributing the Power
One of the most common parts rescued from the scrapheap is the battery. As one of the central power sources of the car, even a dead battery is easily recycled. A dead battery is often to blame for the apparent death of cars in otherwise perfect working order, which means that people are always on the lookout for them. When we find one with life in it, all the better: it’s rarely long before it’s being installed on a new vehicle. A second commonly salvaged substance is another central power source: the fuel. If we find fuel still in any cars that make it back to one of our scrap breakers, once again we’re never hanging onto it for very long. It’s messy and dangerous to leave it in the tank, and it has the bonus of being unquestionably still useful to other road users.
Working Tyre-lessly
If it was a fatal mechanical problem that finally killed your beloved scrap car, we can always find a home for intact tyres. The risk of flat tyres is a very real and present danger for a lot of drivers, and it’s the kind of problem that tends to strike just when you’re least prepared for it. This kind of fear means there are always people or companies on the lookout for spare tyres, making them easy to reuse or recycle.
The bodywork of the car also is something we always pay very close attention to, as even older scrap cars can come to us with their bodywork completely intact. In the event of a minor car accident or a “fender bender”, car doors and boots are often the first to feel the literal brunt of the impact. In these cases, most people will look to replace their doors rather than attempt to repair them, making bodywork a valuable resource for a sadly common scenario.
Nothing Goes to Waste
Electricals and wiring takes a careful approach, and our experts at Scrap Car Network are masters of removing these components steadily and safely. Stereo systems in good working order can occasionally be left in written-off cars, so we always make sure these find new homes rather than pointlessly compacted. Similarly, we often remove the engine if it’s deemed to be in acceptable working order, and our industry contacts mean that even the rarest types of engines can be put to good use in another second-hand vehicle.
Other small but still valuable internal components include air bags and air conditioning components. Even in the case of total mechanical failures, air conditioning units sometimes survive, and in such cases are almost always fit for another full lifetime of service. Meanwhile, air bags are yet another first casualty in the event of a car accident. Since the law requires that every vehicle possesses two airbags, these are often amongst the most sought-after items in the motor industry.
This list isn’t exhaustive, but gives you a good idea of what can be salvaged from even the most apparently hopeless of wrecks. As experts in the waste disposal industry, we at Scrap Car Network firmly believe in our responsibility to the environment, and attempt to preserve it as well as we can by constantly re-examining and improving our recycling methods.
Call 0300 100 0027 to speak to a friendly member of our team, or just enter your details onto our website to receive an instant scrap car quote.
