How Miscellaneous Car Parts and Accessories are Recycled

Car Parts

How do various car parts, such as your old radiator, transmission and exhaust system get recycled? Since all three of these items are made of metal, essentially they are recycled in a few easy steps:

1. Dropped off at a local recycling facility
2. The metal is thoroughly cleaned to remove any foreign debris.
3. The metal is melted down.
4. After the metal has cooled, the metal is transported to a processing facility where it can be made into other items.

Generally, after a metal is processed, it will be combined with virgin or raw metals before being used in manufacturing. Many of these recycled metals will be used in producing new cars.

There are indeed some environmental hazards that can come from any recycling process. After all, it does require energy and a factory to process these materials. However, this process is more eco-friendly than harvesting virgin metals. Instead of harming the earth through the processes of mining, we can reuse the materials already harvested.

While end-of-life vehicles (ELVs) (and all of their parts and accessories) were destined for the junkyard in the past, they are now viewed as treasure troves of raw materials such as steel, aluminum and plastic.

Car Accessories

Most automotive recyclers buy an entire vehicle and then dismantle the vehicle for useful parts and accessories. Many parts are resold as replacements or recycled for scrap. Here is how a few different types of accessories are recycled:

Polyurethane products (floor mats and truck bed liners)

According to the Center for Polyurethanes Industry, there are three common methods for recycling:

1. Industrial and post-consumer foam is re-ground into powders and used to produce new foam.
2. Flexible foam underlay from carpets and mats is bonded together to make new padding products.
3. Polyurethane granules are pressed, coated with a binder and then cured under heat and pressure. These pressed granules can be used to make parts like car floor mats and tire covers.

Steel and aluminum (wheels and wheel covers)

1. If wheels and wheel covers have minimal scuffing or scratching, they can be resold as used parts.
2. If wheels are not reusable, they can be sold as scrap, formed into briquettes and reshaped into other metal parts or accessories.

Metal, plastic and foam (car seats)

1. 95 percent of the materials used to make a car seat can be reclaimed.
2. Car seats are dismantled and parts are separated for standard recycling (metal, plastic and foam).