Recycle My Wrecked Car: Why Selling It to Us is a Great Option

When you think about recycling a vehicle, a junkyard probably isn’t the first place that comes to mind. After all, junkyards specialize in buying end-of-life vehicles and selling parts to consumers, right? Yes — and from a recycling standpoint, therein lies value of selling your end-of-life vehicle to a professionally operated junkyard, such as Wrench-A-Part.

Re-circulating Vs. Recycling

There are two basic ways to repurpose used car parts to benefit the environment: recycling them by crushing them and melting them down to create new parts, and keeping them in circulation by selling them to a junkyard, which then sells them to consumers.

The value of recycling auto parts gets more attention than the value of re-circulating them, but the latter option is actually the best for a simple reason: Little if any energy is expended in recirculating parts, but recycling parts can require lots of energy, which can result in carbon emissions that aren’t good for the environment by a long shot, not to mention solvent emissions that result from degreasing recycling equipment to keep it in top operating condition.

Eventually, like all other auto parts, the components junkyards sell make their way to a recycling outfit or — in the case of non-recyclable parts — a landfill. However, keeping parts in circulation as long as possible naturally reduces emissions and curbs landfill use — two things that any educated environmentalist would consider good for our ecosystems.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much will I be paid if I recycle my wrecked car through a junkyard? This is the most common thing drivers want to know before they sell. Usually, the answer is a few hundred dollars, although popular makes and models that have lots of usable parts could fetch more.

Another commonly asked question is: If I recycle my wrecked car through a junkyard, what will the business do with components from the vehicle that don’t sell? The answer depends on the junkyard. If a junkyard’s business model includes forwarding unsold recyclables to recyclers, the business will do what it can to ensure that materials don’t end up in a landfill.

Contact Wrench-A-Part Today

Should I recycle my wrecked car by selling it a junkyard? As long as the business recycles as many unsold vehicle materials as possible, there’s no reason why the answer shouldn’t be yes. This is how Wrench-A-Part operates. We recirculate used car parts by selling them, and work with recyclers to have materials we don’t sell recycled instead of hauled to a landfill.

To receive a free price quote for your vehicle, contact one of our Texas locations in Austin, Belton, Holland, or Lubbock today. We look forward to making you a competitive offer and helping you save money by towing the automobile to our location for free.    

 

Can Auto Recycling Eliminate “Illegal” Junkyards?

Consumer vehicles are the number one recycled product in the U.S. (About.com), with over 25 million tons of material recycled from end-of-life vehicles each year. The recycling is performed by roughly 7,000 professionally operated recyclers throughout the nation. However, despite the great number of auto recyclers and the impressive volume of materials they recycle, some junk vehicles fall through the cracks, and never arrive at an auto recycling facility. In some cases, they end up parked in what are commonly called illegal junkyards.

What Are Illegal Junkyards?

Illegal junkyards are ones that don’t have a business permit and usually aren’t in the business of selling parts from the end-of-life vehicles they harbor. Rather, these junkyards — which are often found in out of the way places such as sparsely populated woodland areas — serve as a convenient place for people to dump aging vehicles that are no longer dependable.

In some cases, an illegal junkyard is simply a small collection of automobiles that’s located on private property and used exclusively by the property owner over the course of many years. However, who dumps vehicles at illegal junkyards and why aren’t the main concerns. The primary concern is how the vehicles negatively impact the environment by exposing the junkyard area to the following sources of vehicle-related pollution.

    • Lead batteries
    • Mercury from light switches
    • Anti-freeze
    • Freon from cooling systems,
    • Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs)
    • Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)
    • Asbestos found in older cars
  • Motor oil

Vehicles that are parked in illegal junkyards are typically left there without having the products or materials above removed, which makes the cars especially egregious sources of pollution. As for proposing a solution to the problem, there is only one answer: Encourage end-of-life vehicle owners to forward their cars to companies that perform auto recycling or businesses that participate in a particular part of the recycling process, such as professional junkyards.

Incentives for Auto Recycling

Logistically, auto recycling can eliminate illegal junkyards, but the key is motivating those who use illegal junkyards to recycle their vehicles. There are three main incentives for illegal junkyard users to recycle their automobiles by offering them to auto recyclers or junkyards that participate in auto recycling: payment in cash for the vehicles, the vehicles are towed away for free, and having the vehicles towed removes an eyesore from the property.

If you need to get rid of junk vehicle, and you’ve considered leaving it in an illegal junkyard, consider offering it to Wrench-A-Part instead. We pay top dollar for end-of-life automobiles, offer free towing for cars we purchase, and participate in auto recycling by sending vehicle frames to auto recyclers. To receive a free price quote, please refer to our contact page to select our nearest location. We look forward to making you a competitive offer for your junker!        

Should I Recycle My Junk Car Using an Auto Recycler?

In our blog, we often point up the benefits of selling a junk car that you want to recycle to a junkyard instead of selling it to an auto recycling company. However, there are times when selling a junk car to the latter is more advantageous than trying to sell it to the former. Should I recycle my junk car using an auto recycler instead of a junkyard that participates in auto recycling? There are at least two situations in which the answer is yes.

The Vehicle is too Old to be Useful to a Junkyard

Despite being ubiquitously called “junkers”, some end-of-life vehicles that junkyards purchase aren’t so junky after all — at least not concerning the condition of auto parts the automobiles contain. After all, a junkyard can’t make much money on a vehicle that has little if any reusable parts that can be removed and sold to consumers.

Consequently, there are some types of junk cars that junkyards don’t buy, and the vehicles typically fall into two categories: Vehicles that are so old that there is no longer a strong need for their parts, and vehicles that are in such decrepit condition that they have almost no parts to salvage. Offering these types of vehicles to an auto recycler makes perfect sense, as the company is strictly interested in recyclable components and not their condition.

Junkyards Are not Interested in Buying the Vehicle

Professionally operated junkyards that sell a high volume of parts will buy any vehicle whose reusable parts it can sell within a reasonable period of time. As long as the make and model is commonly found on the roadways, most junkyards are highly interested in purchasing it as a junk car and move quickly to make a competitive offer.

However, there also also cases when a car that seems like it would sell to a junkyard doesn’t. Often, one of the main reasons why is that, for one reason or another, junkyard vehicle inventories are saturated with the make and model, and need to save room for storing other types of vehicles. Biding your time may eventually result in receiving an offer, but if you want to liquidate your car quickly, selling it to a recycler is a good option in this situation.

Have a Junk Car You Would Like to Recycle?

If so, Wrench-A-Part would love to inspect the vehicle and see if we need it. If we do, we’ll make you a competitive offer that’s based on the value of the vehicle’s salable parts and any other areas of worth. However, if we don’t need the vehicle, and you would have a better chance of selling it to an auto recycler, we’ll tell you that upfront, so the sale of your car doesn’t remain in limbo.

To receive a free evaluation of your junker, please refer to our contact page to find our location nearest you. We look forward to helping you answer the question: Should I recycle my junk car using an auto recycler or a junkyard that participates in auto recycling?  

Four Ways Auto Recycling Benefits the Junkyard Industry

In our company blog, we’ve written several times about how professionally operated junkyards that are dedicated to recycling vehicles benefit the auto recycling industry. In this entry, we’re flipping the coin to look at things from the opposite perspective: how auto recyclers benefit the junkyard industry. Several benefits can be listed, but four stand out above the rest: scrap metal disposal, revenue generation, support of green business practices, and customer confidence.

1. Scrap Metal Disposal

Junkyards help auto recyclers by providing them with automotive scrap metal in the form of car frames, and auto recyclers help junkyards by taking the scrap metal to the recycling destination. Stripped down car frames can’t be sold to consumers, and, if it weren’t for recyclers, there would essentially be two options for disposing of the metal: Put the frames in a landfill and cover them over, or let them rust away in a remote area of the junkyard.

2. Revenue Generation

Just as auto manufacturers buy refined scrap metal from auto recyclers to build new vehicles, auto recyclers purchase unrefined scrap metal from junkyards to refine it. This creates a valuable revenue stream for junkyards that steadily sell a high volume of used auto components from junk cars, and thus produce a high volume of stripped vehicle frames annually.

3. Green Practices

When you run a junkyard, operating as a “green” business can be tough. You have to ensure that engine fluids from junkers don’t leak out of their reservoirs; you should invest in commercial tow trucks that are relatively fuel efficient, which can be quite a challenge; and you also have to find alternative recyclers for leftover auto materials that auto recyclers won’t touch.

However, one thing that you don’t have to do is figure out what to do with all of those stripped down car frames that keep popping up, as you sell used parts. As mentioned above, auto recyclers are more than willing to transport spent car frames away from the salvage lot.

4. Customer Confidence

We live in an era where consumers increasingly favor eco friendly businesses over businesses whose practices aren’t environmentally sound. If you could get parts from a junkyard that participated in auto recycling or a junkyard that sent leftover materials to a landfill, which would you choose, all other factors being equal? The auto recycling industry helps junkyards operate “greener”, which is good for business at a time when the green movement is in full swing.

Need to Recycle a Vehicle?

If so, there are three good reasons to offer your automobile to Wrench-A-Part: We’ll make you a competitive offer for the vehicle if you wish to sell it instead of donate it, usable parts from the car will be sold to consumers, which helps reduce energy consumption by reducing the need to create new parts, and leftover parts and materials will be forwarded to the proper recyclers. To receive a free quote, call us or email us today by using the contact form on our website.

How Junkyard Help Auto Recyclers

Auto recycling is a complex process in which junkyards that are dedicated to recycling vehicle parts can play a pivotal role by helping vehicle recyclers complete the recycling effort. Junkyards can make the recycling process easier for auto recycling companies in several ways. In this entry, we take a look at four major capacities in which eco friendly junkyards such as Wrench-A-Part help out vehicle recyclers.

1. Sell Usable Car Parts

Junkyards kick off the vehicle recycling process by selling usable parts from junk vehicles to consumers. When vehicle recyclers receive cars that have usable parts, they often sell the parts to mechanics and other parties that can use them directly. However, this extends the time of the recycling process and forces the recycler to operate as a parts seller, which is typically not one of the company’s core practices.

2. Remove Non-Recyclables

Just because a vehicle recycler considers some car parts to be non-recyclable doesn’t mean that another type of recycling outfit can’t recycle them. For example, upholstery recyclers, rubber recyclers, and glass recyclers often recycle car parts that vehicle recyclers don’t. Junkyards that work closely with vehicle recyclers can sell parts that the recyclers wouldn’t repurpose to companies that specialize in doing so.

3. Deliver Stripped Frames

Most auto recycling companies are primarily interested in recycling metal, particularly scrap metal in the form of stripped car frames. By selling usable car parts to consumers and liquidating materials that vehicle recyclers wouldn’t repurpose, junkyards benefit vehicle recyclers by delivering stripped car frames that can be placed in the car crusher and compacted immediately, and then melted down.

4. Reduce Turnaround Time

By selling used car parts to consumers, removing materials from vehicles that vehicle recyclers wouldn’t recycle, and delivering junk cars to recyclers in the form of stripped car frames, junkyards help vehicle recycling companies expedite the turnaround time for recycled materials. In turn, this helps recyclers earn more revenue and produce a higher volume of recycled metal in a given period of time.

Ready to Sell Your Junk Car?

If you own an end-of-life vehicle that you need to sell, contact Wrench-A-Part. We make some of the best offers for end-of-life vehicles and used vehicles in the junkyard industry. In addition to paying you a competitive price in cash, we’ll ensure that your car is recycled by selling its usable parts to consumers, and then selling the leftover parts and materials to the proper recyclers.

To receive a free price quote for your junk vehicle, please contact one of our Texas locations in Austin, Belton, Holland, or Lubbock today, or fill out the contact form on our website. We look forward to helping you recycle your end of life vehicle!  

 

Recycling a Vehicle: How Auto Recycling Impacts GHG Emissions

The environmental impact of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions has been one of the most talked about scientific subjects of the past 20 years. Since the advent of the green movement, companies and consumers have become increasingly concerned about whether GHG emissions deliver a toxic payload to ecosystems. This is one reason why professionally operated junkyards have become interested in reducing GHG emissions through auto recycling.

GHG Emissions and Auto Recycling

The operation of most junkyards produces little if any GHG emissions, but how they dispose of recyclable materials (particularly scrap metal) that are left on a vehicle’s frame after all of its useful parts are sold can have a significant impact on GHG levels. Sending the materials to a landfill means that more of them will have to be prepared from scratch, but sending them to the proper recyclers has the opposite effect: It reduces the need to create the materials anew.

According to the Automotive Recyclers Association, recycling a vehicle instead of sending it to a landfill results in GHG reductions of 220 pounds, 3,197 pounds, and 2,205 pounds for copper, aluminum, and steel, respectively. When a junkyard recycles each vehicle frame from which it sells parts, the annual reduction in GHG emissions can amount to hundreds of thousands of pounds. Over the lifetime of the business, reduced emissions can soar into millions of pounds.

Consumers and Junkyard Auto Recycling

Not every junkyard makes recycling a vehicle from which it sells parts a formal aspect of its business model. Consequently, it is up to consumers to sell or donate their junk cars to a junkyard that makes auto recycling a top priority. In addition to sending metal to recyclers, junkyards have to opportunity to recycle rubber, glass, and some types of upholstery. Recycling these materials can also have a significant, positive impact on annual GHG emissions.

If you have an end-of-life vehicle that you would like to sell or donate to a junkyard that participates in auto recycling, offering the car to Wrench-A-Part is a great option for three reasons: We take recycling a vehicle seriously, provide free towing service for junk vehicles, and make some of the best price offers of any junkyard in the industry. We also operate four Texas locations in Austin, Belton, Holland, and Lubbock to provide convenience to our customers.

Contact Wrench-A-Part Today

To donate your vehicle or receive a free price quote, contact us today by calling one of our locations listed above, or fill out the contact form for the location to which you would like to sell the car. Recycling a vehicle can positively impact on GHG emissions. Offer your automobile to us, and lets us help you protect the environment from the negative effects of GHG emissions!

Four Ways That Auto Recycling Impacts the Junkyard Business

Professionally operated junkyards and auto recycling businesses often work hand in hand to support auto recycling practices. Much has been said about the relationship from the standpoint of how junkyards can impact the auto recycling business, but less has been mentioned about how auto recycling affects the junkyard business. In this entry, we look at four basic ways in which auto recycling businesses impact junkyards that participate in the auto recycling process.

1. Revenue Streams

The opportunity to sell recyclables to recyclers gives junkyards the chance to earn streams of revenue that bolster the bottom line. For example, car frames can be sold to a vehicle recycler, and spent tires can be liquidated to a tire recycler. Because the buyer can sell the recycled material for more than it paid for the raw material, it is a beneficial situation for both parties.

2. Business Competition

Junkyards and recyclers do not share the same industry. So, they do not compete with each other from a sales standpoint. However, they do share at least one customer demographic: People who are interested in recycling junk vehicles. However, because junkyards and auto recyclers benefit each other in terms of revenue, they share this demographic without qualms.

3. Scrap Metal Disposal

After an end-of-life vehicle is stripped of usable parts, junkyards need an efficient way to get rid of the leftover vehicle frames. Auto recyclers can meet this need. Just as junkyards assist consumers by picking up end-of-life vehicles and transporting them to the junkyard, recyclers can assist junkyards by picking up car frames and transporting them to the recycling center.

4. “Green” Status

Consumers and companies are increasingly interested in supporting and working with businesses whose operating practices are environmentally friendly, or “green”, as it were, because the practices support the eco friendly green movement. Junkyards that participate in auto recycling have a feather in their cap that attracts like-minded businesses and individuals.

Planning to Recycle Your Vehicle?

If so, Wrench-A-Part is here to help. We contribute to the auto recycling process by selling quality, used auto parts to consumers, which keeps the parts in circulation and out of landfills, and by forwarding leftover recyclable materials to recyclers. To receive a free price quote for your end-of-life vehicle, contact one of our Texas locations in Austin, Belton, Holland, or Lubbock today. We look forward to making you a competitive offer for your junk vehicle!

Recycling a Vehicle: Commonly Asked Questions

Most vehicles are recycled after they reach the end of their lifespan and are no longer valuable as modes of transportation — a practice that helps decrease landfill use, helps mitigate emissions by reducing the need to create new auto parts, and helps prevent engine fluids from polluting the environment, among other benefits. If you’re interested in recycling a vehicle, but you have some general questions about the process, see the answers to the questions below.

Should I offer the automobile to an auto recycler or a junkyard?

If you want to sell your vehicle, offering it to a junkyard is likely to get you the best price, as a junkyard generally makes more money from selling reusable auto components than recyclers do, and can thus afford to offer you more money. Just make sure that the junkyard actually participates in recycling automobiles, or unsalable parts from the car could end up in a landfill.

Must I remove non-recyclables before offering the car to an auto recycler?

Some auto recyclers require everything to be stripped from the car frame before they acquire it, while others remove parts from the frame and sell them to mechanics and other auto part buyers. Because removing everything from the frame is time consuming, recycling a vehicle by selling it to a junkyard that will purchase the car as-is is typically the most hassle-free option.

How do junkyards participate in the auto recycling process?

Professionally operated junkyards participate in recycling a vehicle in two basic capacities: They sell quality, used parts from the automobile, which keeps components in cars and out of landfills, and they sell to auto recyclers scrap metal that is leftover after salable parts are removed. Before you sell your vehicle to a junkyard, be sure that it forwards scrap metal to auto recyclers.

How much money can I expect to receive for selling the automobile?

Several factors determine how much a junkyard offers for an end-of-life vehicle, primarily: the popularity of the vehicle, how many salable parts it contains, and whether or not the vehicle is already in the buyer’s car lot. With that said, junkyards that participate in recycling a vehicle typically pay hundreds of dollars for an end-of-life automobile that has plenty of good parts.

Interested in Recycling a Vehicle?

If you have an end-of life vehicle that you would like to recycle, Wrench-A-Part can help you do it. We contribute to auto recycling in two ways: By selling quality, pre-owned auto parts to keep them in circulation and by forwarding leftover scrap metal from vehicles to auto recyclers. We accept both donated vehicles and ones that we pay to acquire. For instructions for donating or selling your car, contact one of our Texas locations in Austin, Belton, Holland, or Lubbock today.  

 

Statistics That Quantify the Importance of Recycling a Vehicle

Since the green movement began and recycling of all forms gained prominence as measures that can help preserve the environment, many media outlets have used this point alone to appeal to people to recycle vehicles by selling them or donating them to junkyards that participate in recycling a vehicle, or by selling them to vehicle recyclers. However, some of the strongest reasons to recycle end-of-life cars exist in statistics that address auto recycling.

Vehicle Recycling: Important Statistics

Because junk cars have many parts that can be recycled, statistics for recycling a vehicle can become quite tedious when they are discussed from a parts-based approach. In this entry, we forego speaking about auto recycling in terms of minutia and instead present crucial statistics that address the process of vehicle recycling as a whole. If you have doubts about the popularity or environmental impact of automotive recycling, these numbers add clarity to the matter.

    • End-of life cars are the most frequently recycled consumer product worldwide.
    • Over 25 million tons of materials from old automobiles are recycled annually.
    • Car recycling is the 16th largest U.S. industry, contributing $25 billion to the annual GDP.
    • Cars are the most recycled U.S. product, with 12 million units recycled annually.
    • U.S. auto recycling saves 25 million barrels of oil from use for new car products annually.
    • U.S. auto recycling supplies 40 percent of ferrous metal for scrap processing industry.
    • Yearly, recyclers reclaim toxic auto fluids that equal 8 Exxon Valdez disasters
    • U.S. car recycling yields over 35 percent of ferrous metal to blast furnaces and smelters.
  • Tire recycling literally produces tons of material for creating sandals and roadways.

Even when they learn the statistical importance of recycling a vehicle, many drivers of end-of-life vehicles are unaware of how to initiate the auto recycling process. While you could always sell your automobile straight to an auto recycler, Wrench-A-Part recommends selling it to us instead for three main reasons: We offer highly competitive prices for numerous makes and models of junk cars, provide free towing, and recycle most car components we cannot sell.

Receive a Free Quote Today

If you’re interested in recycling an end-of-life vehicle, Wrench-A-Part is ready to pay you cash for the automobile if we need it in our inventory — and we’ll even tow the car from your property for free. To find out the value of your junk car, call one of our Texas locations today in Austin, Belton, Lubbock, or Holland. We look forward to paying cash for your end-of-life automobile!

 

Recycling a Vehicle: How Junkyards Participate in Auto Recycling

Auto recycling statistics are often discussed in terms of the impact that traditional auto recycling businesses have on the reuse of metal and other materials that come from end-of-life vehicles. However, there is another class of businesses that contribute to recycling a vehicle: professionally operated junkyards that sell used auto parts from vehicles that are considered junk cars. Below is a step-by-step overview of how these junkyards contribute to auto recycling.

Purchase End-of-Life Vehicles

Junkyards purchase various types of vehicles that have reached the end of their lifespan for one reason or another, such as wrecked cars, lemon cars, and old vehicles that have mechanical problems that would cost more to repair than the car is worth on the fair market. In addition to purchasing junk vehicles for competitive prices, junkyards also accept donated cars.

Tow Away Vehicles for Free

Most junkyards that are dedicated to acquiring a steady stream of used vehicles make the process as easy as possible for the seller. In addition to paying the seller a competitive price, they offer free towing services, which consist of a tow truck arriving at the seller’s location to load the vehicle on the towing mechanism and transporting it to the junkyard’s vehicle lot.

Sell Reusable Automotive Parts

Selling reusable car parts isn’t a traditional aspect of recycling a vehicle, but it has a place in the auto recycling process. By buying pre-owned parts, drivers do more than acquire components for an excellent price. They also help keep parts from entering landfills and help reduce the need to produce new parts, which helps limit emissions that come from the production process.

Send Scrap Metal to Recyclers

After an end-of-life vehicle has been practically stripped clean of reusable parts, junkyards sell the leftover scrap metal from the automobile to auto recyclers. Some recycling businesses only acquire car frames that consist of pure metal, while others acquire car frames that contain non-metal materials, and strip the frames of these materials at the auto recycling location.

Send Other Parts to Recyclers

If a junkyard that participates in recycling needs to strip car frames of non-metal materials before forwarding the frames to an auto recycler, it often sends the removed material to niche recyclers, such as ones that reprocess old tires, vehicle upholstery, plastic, and glass. The goal is to recycle as much of the automobile as possible, starting with selling pre-owned parts.

Interested in Recycling a Vehicle?

If so, you have an alternative to sending the car to a recycler: You could sell or donate it to a junkyard that participates in auto recycling. Wrench-A-Part is this type of junkyard. In addition to supporting auto recycling by selling quality, used auto parts, we also send leftover scrap metal and other materials to recyclers. To receive a free estimate of how much your end-of-life vehicle is worth as a junk car, call one of our locations in Austin, Belton, Holland, or Lubbock today!