Environment Heroes

End-of-life vehicles contain many chemicals that can be harmful to our environment, either as a source of pollution or as contributants to the build up of 'greenhouse' gasses within the Earth's atmosphere.

At Metro Salvage we're carefully removing these harmful chemicals and disposing of them, inline with the governments instructions and guidelines.

We are all doing our bit by re-cycling part of our household waste, but car recycling takes expert knowledge and specialist equipment. You can help by contacting us whenever you have a vehicle to dispose of. The following is just a few of the steps that we undertake to make sure a vehicle is safe to dispose of.

1. Remove Electrical Sources

First of all we remove any electrical power sources from the vehicle, usually this is just a standard car battery. We store the old batteries safely before we send them to be re-cycled.

2. Drain Hazardous Chemicals

Next the vehicle is moved to a depollution bay where fluids can be drained safely. We re-cycle anything we can and safely store any other liquids until they are collected for safe disposal.

3. Remove Tyres

We remove any remaining tyres from the vehicle, some tyres aren't very worn and can be re-used on another vehicle. We perform rigourous tests and measurements to make sure the tyres are safe.

Any worn or damaged tyres are stored and shipped to a specialist handler for disposal

4. Remove Usable Parts

Next we examine the vehicle to see if there are any parts we can salvage for re-sale. Any useable parts are removed, cleaned and tested to make sure they are safe for use in another vehicle. These parts can be anything from a full engine to speakers for an in-car stereo.

5. Plastic Recyling

Here at Metro Salvage, we are continuously trying to improve our commitment to the Green Agenda. By following all guidelines set out by the Government’s Environment Agency, we can assure we get the optimum level of efficiency during the dismantling and disposal of an End of Life vehicle.

Recently, we have liaised with a Plastic Recycling Organisation to arrange a recycling process to make the reuse of plastics possible. Plastic components from vehicles such as: Bumpers, Interior Door Panels, Dashboards and other miscellaneous Interior panels will be placed into dedicated containers during the vehicle depollution process. Once we have filled the container, it will then be sent off to the Plastic Recycling Plant, where the plastics will be granulated. This process allows separation and removal of any foreign objects, then refine the plastic content.

Plastic Recycling

Once the plastic is granulated into small particles and been through the refinement process, it can be transferred to an FIBC (Flexible Intermediate Bulk Container). This provides a larger mass of content, into a smaller area, without any void. The plastic filled FIBC can now be stored until it is required for future reuse. By recycling plastic, we no longer have to use valuable oil to create new batches of plastic. Oil is slowly running out and isn’t a renewable source of energy, using scrap plastic to recreate new plastic is the way forward, allowing us to use oil for more important purposes.

So, why should you recycle? As you are more than likely aware, plastic isn’t biodegradable, meaning it will not rot and decompose, which could result in valuable landfill space being occupied by the waste plastic. It is also not best practice to incinerate plastic, as it emits toxic fumes when burnt. So for the said reasons, plastic recycling has very many pros with no plausible cons.

Go with Metro Salvage, and recycle your plastics today, assisting our environment stay clean and green!

You can read more about depollution and the governments targets for the future from Defra, The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

If you are the owner of an end of life vehicle, the law holds you personally responsible for it's safe disposal. If you'd like us to collect, safely depollute and dispose of your car salvage for you contact us or fill out this form to scrap your car and get a fast response.