Posted on 18 September 2020 by CarTakeBack

The 21st of September sees the start of Recycle Week! For 2020, the theme will thank the nation for continuing to recycle despite the challenges that COVID-19 has presented, under the banner 'Together - We Recycle'.

We love talking about recycling, particularly spreading the word about car recycling. The theme for this year's Recycle Week - Together - We Recycle - is an apt one for the team at CarTakeBack, we couldn't help you recycle your cars without our fantastic network of authorised scrap car recycling centres. As well as the wider CarTakeBack alliance including vehicle manufacturers, and shredders, which are large scale facilities which process the cars when they're at that familiar cube stage of the recycling journey. We also work closely with the DVLA, government, trade associations, councils, and other organisations to ensure we're providing the best scrap car recycling service that we can.

Car recycling isn't something that many people consider, until they need to. Having your car recycled responsibly by an authorised scrap car recycling centre is vital, if you don't, not only could you get fined, but you could also be damaging the environment.

There's lots that goes in to recycling a car, it's not just a case of crushing it into a neat cube, there's certain processes that have to be followed before that part comes.

How To Recycle A Car

Scrap cars can only be recycled by sites that are authorised by the environment agencies to do so. The main processes for recycling a car include - Securely detonating airbags, safely removing all fluids such as fuel, brake fluid, even windscreen washer fluids, ensuring that no excess chemicals leak into the surrounding environment. Any working parts that are in a good condition are salvaged to be reused, to get the maximum life out of them. The car is now at the point when it's crushed, this is done to make cars easier and more efficient to transport for further recycling.

This recycling process is for a petrol or diesel vehicle, there are additional steps that go into safely deconditioning a hybrid or electric vehicle, as the batteries can be highly dangerous to remove.

The cubed cars are then safely transported to a shredder plant. These facilities take in the vehicles which are processed into smaller pieces and separated into metal, glass, plastics and fabrics which can then be recycled for use by various industries - including car manufacturing. At this point 95% of the car has been recycled! The remainder that can't be recycled becomes top cover for landfill.

Members of the CarTakeBack alliance are always looking for ways to refine this process and increase the percentage of a vehicle that can be recycled.

When the time comes for you to get rid of your car, you'll know how much time and effort goes into safely recycling it by the teams that are part of CarTakeBack.