How do you recycle a car?
Posted on | August 5, 2009 | No Comments
Tucked away in Wednesday’s edition of All Things Considered on NPR was a short bit where they discussed listener letters, and they answered one letter that was sent in after a report on the Federal Government’s “Cash for Clunkers” program. Specifically the listener wanted to know “what happens to the ‘clunker’ after it is turned in and junked?” Well, I never would have guessed that you could recycle cars this way, but essentially the vehicle is stripped down for parts; it then goes to a special handling facility where it is flattened; and finally, it is sent into a “car shredder”, which shreds it into hundreds of fist-size pieces of metal, plastic, and wood (if applicable). Much of the metal is actually sorted out and reused, but some bits of it, like the plastic, end up in a landfill. Still, it’s good to know that this metal is making it back into the manufacturing cycle! Listen to the story here for all the details.
Tags: goods > recycle > recycling > reduce > reuse > transportation
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