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Backyard Mechanic
AUTO TECH: Auto recycling hits its cost-saving stride
We are all excited when a new shiny vehicle appears in our driveway, and many are interested in how they are built and perform.
It's a different story when a vehicle is no longer roadworthy. Then, that old hulk is traded in, sold or hauled away. We really don't care as long as it disappears somewhere, but we should.
More than 12 million new vehicles sold last year in North America. This is down from a record 17 million a few years earlier. In the long run, these vehicles will have served their useful purpose and must be disposed of. While old vehicles used to be left to sit and rust, today these newer vehicles still have value, and that's where automobile recyclers come into play.
We used to call them wrecking yards or salvage yards. Now they're referred to as automotive recyclers, and that's a much better description of what they do.
When a vehicle enters their workplace, it's evaluated and major serviceable parts are removed from the vehicle for resale. It may be an engine, transmission or even body parts, depending on the demand of the marketplace for used parts.
Think of this as the ultimate in green environmental consciousness. Instead of using new parts, with the cost of producing and shipping them, a good serviceable used part is put back on the road.
After the reclaimable parts are used, the rest of the vehicle still has value. Bodies are crushed, shredded and sorted into different materials. More than 75 per cent of newer automobiles are easily recyclable -- in Europe and Japan, they're trying to regulate it so 95 per cent can be recycled.
About 70 per cent of current vehicles are steel and cast iron by weight, and over 40 per cent of all new steel in North America comes from this recycled metal. Lighter metals such as aluminum, copper, zinc and magnesium make up a much smaller percentage of a vehicle's total weight, but there's still a significant volume. It's much cheaper to recycle aluminum than it is to mine the ore and produce new metal. Not only is it environmentally sound, it takes a lot less electrical energy.
Currently, about 24 per cent of the average vehicle ends up as ASR -- Automotive Shredder Residue. This includes materials such as plastics, adhesives, rubber, glass, dirt and foam.
Automakers are trying to include more plastics in vehicles these days to reduce weight and increase fuel economy. They are helping the recycling process by using types of plastic that can be more easily sorted. Other materials, such as rubber, can be separated out and reused in a different form. For example, Ford is making engine gaskets out of shredded tires for several of its vehicles.
Other materials such as glues, resins and foams may not be as easily recyclable but can be used as fuel sources to help power recycling facilities, and research is ongoing to determine how to best utilize these parts.
Auto manufacturers also are finding new ways to incorporate recycled materials into their vehicles. Bamboo, a quick-growing grass, is used by several to reinforce moulded underbody panels. This reduces the amount of petroleum needed to manufacture plastics.
Recently, I saw how Ford's new Focus Electric car will have seat material manufactured from recycled plastic water bottles. Not only was this a good use of a product often sent to the landfill, the seat material looked great and felt very luxurious. You would never guess it was derived from a plastic bottle!
Other Ford recycling initiatives include valve covers on the Fusion, Escape, Mustang and F150 made of 100-per-cent recycled carpet. The Ecolon nylon resin made from the carpets results in a reduction of more than 430,000 gallons of oil used -- not to mention the carpet that doesn't go to the landfill. Another example is the 2012 Focus, which will have carpet and sound-deadening material manufactured from used clothing.
Other automakers are using recycled materials too, to both lower production costs and protect our environment. There's a social consciousness in the automotive industry, and recycling is one part of it.
Jim Kerr is an experienced mechanic, instructor and member of the Automobile Journalists' Association of Canada.