If you’re thinking of scrapping your car then you probably already know the basics of the procedure. You hand over your vehicle to be scrapped, and by the end, it’s nothing more than a jagged metal cube. But have you ever wondered about what exactly happens in the process of scrapping a car? In this blog post, we answer the question: what happens after I scrap my car?

Vehicle depollution

The first stage of scrapping a vehicle is depollution - when elements that could potentially harm the environment are safely removed. These are substances like oil, battery acid, and fuel. These substances must be extracted and disposed of safely and carefully, which means it’s essential you only use licensed car scrap services. At a properly licensed facility, liquids will be drained into sealed tanks using specialist equipment to ensure they do not pose a hazard to water or soil.

Removing other materials

Material like batteries, tyres, seat belts, and airbags are also removed during the depollution stage. Once this has been completed, glass, metal, plastic and rubber parts are then removed from the vehicle. This leaves the metal body of the car, which is then sold on to steel mills for recycling.

Further processing

Bulky parts such as the bumpers are removed. At this point, some vehicles may require further processing, for example, the removal of wiring or heater cores. Once this is completed, or if more processing is not necessary, the vehicle’s remaining shell is then crushed into either a flat sheet or into a cube. This allows the metal to be transported more easily.

Final steps

By now what’s left of the vehicle is ready for the final stage of scrapping. The metal sheet or cube is then moved to a mill or shredder. At this point, the metal is reduced down even further to a cube roughly the size of a fist. The scrap metal is now ready to be reused and recycled in a whole range of different ways.

Once you say goodbye to your car there’s a complex process to turn it into metal that’s ready to be recycled. Passing your vehicle onto a vehicle scrap service means you’re disposing of your car in an environmentally friendly manner. Contact Motorwise now for more information about scrapping your vehicle.