There are a few main reasons why crushing cars has become a common practice in the automotive industry and at junkyards. The crushing compacting process allows for easier transportation and recycling of old vehicles that are no longer in working condition. Crushing cars helps reduce waste, frees up space, and allows salvaged parts to be harvested from the vehicles before they are recycled. Read on to learn more about the specifics of why car crushing is done.
Save Space in Junkyards and Storage Facilities
One of the primary reasons cars are crushed is to save space in junkyards and other vehicle storage facilities. Vehicles take up a lot of room even when stripped for parts. If a car has already been picked clean of any usable parts or components, the empty shell still takes up valuable real estate in a salvage yard.
Crushing the vehicle immediately reduces its size and allows more cars to fill the same footprints. Where one full car once sat, several crushed block-shaped hunks of metal can be stacked and sorted. This frees up room for more inventory coming into the junkyard. Salvage yards must constantly churn through new vehicles coming in for dismantling. Crushing old hulks is an ongoing process that makes space for fresh inventory supplies.
Some auto recyclers will only partially crush cars into compact cubes. This allows some parts to still be removed if needed, while condensing the overall size. Fully crushed blocks maximize space savings but make it impossible to harvest any last usable components afterward. Junkyards must determine the optimal balance of partial versus full crushing based on their inventory needs and parts demands.
Crushing Reduces Transportation Costs and Effort
Crushing vehicles also lowers transportation costs and effort. It is much cheaper to transport a crushed block of metal than an intact vehicle shell. Full cars require special equipment like flatbed trucks and car haulers. They also take up entire parking spaces and lanes during transport. Crushed cars can be loaded onto traditional trucks, rail cars, cargo containers, etc. far more easily. Their smaller size and weight mean more can fit per load.
This is true whether taking the crushed cars to a recycling center, scrapyard, or other destination. Proper disposal often requires transporting the vehicles long distances. That makes the transportation savings of crushing all the more impactful. Companies can spend far less on gas, tolls, time, and transport labor when hauling compacted cubes instead of full shells.
Improves Process of Recycling Materials
Crushing cars improves the recycling of key materials like metal. Scrap metal is a major part of automotive recycling profits. But intact car bodies are less efficient to process than crushed cubes at recycling plants.
Crushing condenses everything tightly together into a dense block. Recyclers can then more easily sort, separate, and extract the different metal components. This includes steel, aluminum, copper wiring, etc. Separating joined parts on a whole car shell takes more effort and precision cutting.
Crushed blocks also allow powerful shredding machines and electromagnets to better break down and sort metal pieces at recycling plants. The shredded metal can then be sold to downstream foundries and smelters. These facilities reuse the recycled steel, aluminum, etc. to manufacture new automotive parts, beams, household appliances, and various industrial products.
How Car Crushing Works
Now that the major reasons for crushing cars are clear, how does the actual crushing process work? Automotive crushing makes use of high-power hydraulic machinery to compact vehicles down into dense cubes. Here is an overview of how car crushers work and are operated:
Loading the Vehicle
The car crushing process starts with loading the vehicle into the crusher. If needed, workers will first remove any final usable parts, fluids, or components for harvesting. The vehicle may be lifted and loaded into the crusher with a crane or hoist. Or the crusher may have a ramp or sliding tray to accept the car.
Crushing Interior Contents
The first crushing stage compacts all the interior contents together. This includes seats, dashboards, door panels, glass, and other innards. Hydraulic plates will compress everything down to a fraction of the size. This crunching of the vehicle’s cockpit makes for a smaller profile before full compression.
Compacting the Chassis
Next, the main chassis of the car is compacted down hydraulically. The crusher’s plates or hammer-like pounders will collapse the vehicle sides, caving in the windows and walls. The roof will smash downward. Mechanical pressure flattens the engine, axles, trunk, and frame into a dense block.
Extracting Crunched Cube
After fully compressing into a compacted block, the crushed car can be removed from the crusher. Cranes, conveyors, or slide-off ramps can direct the dense metal blocks to a storage area for sorting and inventorying. Forklifts move and stack the crushed cubes until they are hauled away for recycling.
Safety Measures
Car crushing machinery is extremely powerful and dangerous. Only trained operators should run these machines. Some key safety measures include:
– Removing all fluids, batteries, and tires beforehand
– Wearing eye, face, hand, and body protection
– Staying clear of pinch points and the compaction chamber when operating
– Having an observer to assist the operator
– Securing long hair, loose clothing, and shoelaces
– Keeping proper maintenance records of the machinery
– Only allowing authorized access to the operator zone
Following all guidelines helps keep workers safe while crushing tons of high-pressure metal.
Environmental Benefits
Beyond the space and transportation savings, crushing old cars has several environmental benefits:
Promotes Metal Recycling
As mentioned, crushing cars allows more efficient recycling of metals. This reduces the need for mining new iron, copper, aluminum, and other metals. Recycling scrap metal cuts back on energy use, greenhouse gases, mining waste products, and damage to natural landscapes. Automotive recycling gives metals a new life in society instead of wasting natural resources.
Saves Landfill Space
Crushing vehicles takes up far less dump space than full shells. Hundreds of intact cars dropped off at landfills quickly consume available volume. But crushed cubes can be tightly stacked and packed. Recycling as much metal as possible also decreases landfill contributions. Not having to store or bury total car hulks reduces the environmental impact.
Reduces Pollution
Crushing cars allows hazardous fluids and materials to be safely removed first. This keeps battery acid, brake fluid, engine oil, coolant, and gasoline out of the ground. These toxic compounds could leak out and pollute soil or water if cars were dumped whole. Proper crushing and recycling prevents pollution.
Downstream Uses of Recycled Metals
Where do all the metals from crushed cars ultimately end up? Here are some of the common downstream uses of recycled automobile steel, aluminum, and other metals:
New Cars and Parts
The automotive industry uses a lot of recycled metal when manufacturing new vehicles. Steel and aluminum from crunched up old cars gets turned into fresh car parts. Components like frames, panels, engines, and wheels all reuse recycled metals. This closes the manufacturing loop as new cars are made from old ones.
Appliances and Electronics
Consumer appliances utilize recycled car metals as well. Refrigerators, washers, dryers, stoves, and electronics all require steel and aluminum. Recycling autos provides raw materials needed for new appliances to be built.
Building Materials
Steel beams, rebar, siding, and roofing use recycled metals from crushed vehicles. Construction consumes massive amounts of metal for infrastructure projects as developing nations grow. Recycled steel and aluminum helps meet this high demand in an eco-friendly way.
Other Manufacturing
All types of manufacturers use metals reclaimed from old junked cars. Industrial equipment, furniture, public transit vehicles, farm machinery, generators, and storage tanks rely on recycled steel, aluminum, copper, etc. Automotive recycling is a key feeder industry supplying metal across manufacturing.
Business Model of Car Crushing
Crushing and recycling cars is a profitable business. Here is an overview of the money-making side to this industry:
Revenue Streams
– Salvaging used parts for resale before crushing
– Selling crushed scrap metal to foundries and smelters
– Charging junkyards and municipalities “tipping fees” to accept vehicles
– Offering towing services to haul cars from donors or auctions
Major Costs
– Transporting cars and scrap (fuel, labor, maintenance)
– Operating the crusher and other processing equipment (energy, repairs)
– Worker salaries (crane operators, truck drivers, sorters, managers)
– Property taxes, rent, utilities
– Insurance
Keys to Profitability
– Efficiently dismantling cars and harvesting maximum usable parts before crushing
– Building relationships with junkyards and metal foundries for steady inventories
– Keeping crushing and sorting equipment in good working order to maximize output
– Locating centrally to key sources of old cars and downstream metal recyclers
– Monitoring metal commodity prices to get top dollar when selling scrap
Major Car Crushing Companies
Several large corporations specialize in auto crushing and recycling across North America. Here are a few of the major players in this industry:
Schnitzer Steel
– Headquarters: Portland, OR
– Over 100 locations across the US and Canada
– Recycles about 2 million cars annually
– Crushes over 700 tons per hour
Sims Metal Management
– Headquarters: New York City, NY
– Around 250 facilities globally
– Recycles 9 million tons of metal per year
– Processes over 3,500 cars daily
EMR Metal Recycling
– Headquarters: London, UK
-Operates on 4 continents
– Recycles over 15 million tons annually
– Crushes/processes over 10,000 cars per month
These large companies have the capabilities to collect, transport, process, and recycle huge volumes of end-of-life vehicles. They partner with auto auctions, junkyards, municipalities, manufacturers, and foundries.
Conclusion
Crushing old cars is a widespread industry practice necessary for efficient recycling of automotive metal. Compressing vehicles down to compact cubes saves space, allows easier transport, and separates/prepares metals for remelting. Car crushing provides environmental and economic benefits by promoting recycling and reducing waste. It turns useless shells into valuable commodities. With millions of cars scrapped annually, crushing will continue playing a vital role in sustainability and manufacturing supply chains.