How we dismantle, recycle and dispose of old vehicles
Today's recycling centre is a capital intensive, professionally run business, having to adhere to ever tougher environmental legislation. The days of heaving your old wreck to the local scrapyard where it could be left to rust are long gone. Car Transplants has invested heavily in the very latest vehicle depollution and baling equipment to enable them to work to the highest possible environmental standards.
Car Transplants was recently highly commended for its environmental achievements in the 2002 Motor Trader Awards.
Take a look at how we operate and at some of the steps involved in depolluting, dismantling and baling an ELV (end of life vehicle) at our Nantwich Auto Salvage and Recycling Centre.
Step 1 - Vehicle Collection and InspectionCollection instructions are received direct from leading UK insurance companies, councils and members of the public. Vehicles are promptly collected and taken to our car salvage yard using our fleet of 17 modern vehicle transporters.
Each vehicle is given a unique reference number, its details being entered into our computerized stock management system, along with multiple digital images.
Vehicles are moved to special depollution bays within our salvage workshops. These bays are fitted with interceptor drainage systems to eliminate the possibility of ground contamination. First the battery is removed and tested - if suitable for resale it will be cleaned and recharged. All wheels and tyres are then removed. The tyres are graded for resale, export or recycling
A SEDA automated vehicle drainage system safely removes hazardous liquids including engine oil, gearbox lubricants, fuel, coolant, windscreen wash, and brake and clutch fluids. We also remove suspension systems, wheel balances and weights. Oil filters are removed and crushed to recover additional oils.
Watch a Video of this process, below
Step 3 - Airbag Deployment and CFC Recovery
Airbags and seat belt pretensioners are now in routine use on most cars. We take strict precautions when removing these items and deploy them under controlled conditions.
Air conditioning systems are also commonplace. These systems contain CFCs which destroy the ozone layer if not disposed of properly. All CFCs are carefully removed and sent to specialists for further processing.
Vehicles are now moved to a dismantling bay where our trained technicians can remove useful parts for resale.
We remove only high value and quick selling items. These items are tested, labelled, bar coded and shelved in our used parts warehouse.
All of the remaining components are inventoried and left on the vehicle in our breakers yard for removal on demand.
Catalytic converters are removed and sent to specialists who recover their precious metal content.
Other parts remain on the vehicle and can be removed later to meet demand.
Depolluted vehicles are then removed to one of our outside storage yards, where we usually have in excess of 1,000 vehicles
Our strict Health & Safety policy prohibits visitors from entering the yard areas
Our trained and friendly staff are always available to offer advice.
The final step! When all of the reusable parts have been removed the vehicle is moved to our Baling area.
Here we first remove the engine mechanically using an engine ripper - taking only 40 seconds in most cases!
The radiator is removed and placed in a separate recycling store.
The vehicle is subject to a final safety inspection prior to being baled in our modern Lefort Vehicle baler.
Find out What Happens Next...
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