Each year millions of cars are sold in the United States. These cars ply our roads and highways until such time they get old, broken, replaced with a new model, resold or sometimes abandoned. What happens to these cars after they have fulfilled their purpose? They simply become junk cars. Consequently, if a car has been totaled and the cost to repair it is more than 70% of the value of the vehicle, what the insurance companies usually do is term it a “junk car.” Now, not many people know that there is actual money to be made from these old and broken down vehicles. You can actually get cash for junk cars if you know how to go about it properly.
The car is the most heavily recycled consumer product in the United States. 94% of ferrous metal is recycled into new steel, 65% of new steel produced in the US actually comes from scrap metal and 75% of a car’s content can be reused or recycled. Scrap cars are usually hauled to an automobile dismantler in the junkyard where reusable parts are removed and resold. Some of the reusable items include parts like working batteries, tires, fluids, car accessories like GPS systems, radios, CD players, windshields, etc. Once the parts are salvaged the car is placed in a crusher and then flattened into auto hulks. However, that is not the end of their story. These metallic hulks are then shipped to the auto recycling facility where they are weighed for payment and then unloaded. The remains of the car then enter the shredder. This shredder can process one junk car every 45 seconds and generates three streams namely: iron and steel, nonferrous metal and fluff (rubber, fabric, glass). These components are then separated from one another. For instance, the iron and steel is magnetically collected and then shipped to end markets such as steel mills where it undergoes the actual process of recycling in order to produce new steel products.