Recycling and reuse have multiple benefits when it comes to scrap metal. The environmental benefit of not taking up more landfill space is one. The environmental benefits multiply once an old catalytic converter or some old batteries go to a recycling center. Aluminum parts, notably wheels, take up space needlessly; aluminum is easy to recycle. Catalytic converter recycling is a potentially valuable way to both protect the environment and make some extra money by selling a catalytic converter for cash. Many old automotive parts can be environmental and safety hazards as well, which means that even if they can be put in landfills they shouldn’t be.
Environmental Costs of Waste Disposal
Batteries are a health and environmental hazard for several reasons. Car batteries typically contain lead, which is fine as long as the lead components stay sealed in the battery case. At a landfill, this is not realistic. The lead will end up in soil and groundwater. Lithium-ion batteries can catch fire in a landfill or even in transit to the local dump. These are two of the reasons why laws regulate how automotive batteries may be disposed of.
Pollution
Batteries pose several environmental risks. Lead-acid batteries, used in almost all motor vehicles, are a real hazard. Lead can leach into soil and water causing a variety of health problems for people and animals. This is the main reason lead-acid automotive batteries must be recycled in most US states. Less seriously, the vast number of batteries dumped each year would take up a huge amount of landfill space for no good reason. Sulfuric acid in lead-acid batteries is a risk to soil and water in part because the acid can dissolve lead and carry it into soil and groundwater.
Safety Hazards
Recyclable auto parts can pose safety hazards in landfills or even while being transported to a dump. The lithium in lithium-ion battery packs can catch fire in a landfill. The sulfuric acid in lead-acid batteries is a burn hazard to people. Other parts may expose landfill workers to small amounts of metals that can cause health problems over time. Other metals and chemicals may produce toxic gases in tiny amounts.
Wasted Space
Other parts aren’t an environmental hazard, but they do waste space. Aluminum wheels and catalytic converters are two examples. Nickel metal-hydride battery packs used in hundreds of thousands of hybrid vehicles are another example. As those vehicles are retired, their battery packs will have to be landfilled or recycled. Catalytic converter recycling is one of several viable ways to cut down on landfill space.
Landfills take up space that could be better used for other things, like conservation or recreation space. How much space? The University of Colorado estimated that in 2021 American landfills take up 1.8 million acres (about twice the area of Rhode Island). Diverting catalytic converters, aluminum car parts, and scrap steel reduces the volume of landfill material by a small, but not insignificant amount.
Environmental Benefits of Recycling
In brief, recycling prevents the need to mine more lithium, nickel, platinum, and so on. The lead in lead-acid batteries can be recovered and reused several times. The battery acid can also be recovered and turned into something new. The aluminum in wheels, valve covers, and other parts may be easily turned into a variety of products. Catalytic converter recycling reduces the need to mine more platinum, palladium, and rhodium.
Recycling has both economic and environmental benefits. Catalytic converters use platinum group metals to clean up most of the noxious gases in vehicle emissions. Mining those metals (platinum, palladium, and rhodium) is not exactly a “green” process. Mining these metals will produce millions of tons of waste, mostly rock, and use vast amounts of water and electricity. Recovering those metals from old catalytic converters has much less of an environmental impact. Recyclers also pay for old parts, for that reason, so selling a scrap catalytic converter for cash is a way to make extra money.
Aluminum and lead mining are also pretty bad for the environment. Recycling aluminum requires roughly 5% of the energy of mining aluminum ore and extracting the metal. Lead is reusable multiple times, so each pound of lead recycled saves many, many pounds of CO2 pollution and waste. The Institute of Scrap Metal Recycling estimates that metal recycling cuts carbon dioxide emissions by 300 to 500 million tons per year.
Recycling Automotive Scrap Pays in Many Ways
Catalytic converters, aluminum wheels, lead-acid batteries, and electric vehicle battery packs are a few of the easily recycled car parts a scrap yard may deal with. Recycling those parts has environmental benefits like reclaiming some land from landfills and keeping toxic substances out of the soil and water. Catalytic converter recycling in particular is an effective way to make extra money. Contact us to talk about your bulk recycling needs. We handle catalytic converters, lead-acid batteries, and aluminum wheels. We also offer Group Catalyst, an app that helps you sell a scrap catalytic converter for cash.
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