xcel
08-31-2006, 05:02 PM
Huron Valley Steel, located on the outskirts of Detroit, process approximately 6,000 cars each month. (http://www.popularmechanics.com/blog/automotive/3781662.html)
Ben Hewitt - Popular Mechanics - August 31, 2006
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/Huron_Valley_Car_Recycler.jpg
In North America, there are about 200 automobile shredders processing the 12 million vehicles that are scrapped each year.
By the time I was 20 years of age, I'd owned over 30 cars. That's because I was a car freak and also because I was poor; most of those cars were purchased for somewhere south of $300. And in most cases, I was the end user. I'd drive the beast for a few months (if I was lucky), then tow it's smoldering remains to the junkyard.
Today, I got to see where at least some of those cars likely ended up. Huron Valley Steel, located on the outskirts of Detroit, is one of the largest automotive scrap metal recyclers in the US. They specialize in non-ferrous metals (aluminum, mostly, since about 75% of the non-ferrous metal in a car is aluminum), and they process approximately 6,000 cars each month. It's a behemoth operation, covering about 80 acres, full of the industrial noises and smells you'd expect.
The biggest surprise was the involved process they have for salvaging coins from scrap autos. I'm not kidding. According to my contact, they salvage an average of 1.37 from each and every one of those cars. Of course, the coins have been through the crusher and shredder, so they're pretty mangled, but HVS sells them to the US Mint at a poundage rate that's approximately equal to the face value. I love learning about cool little details like this.
Ben Hewitt - Popular Mechanics - August 31, 2006
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/Huron_Valley_Car_Recycler.jpg
In North America, there are about 200 automobile shredders processing the 12 million vehicles that are scrapped each year.
By the time I was 20 years of age, I'd owned over 30 cars. That's because I was a car freak and also because I was poor; most of those cars were purchased for somewhere south of $300. And in most cases, I was the end user. I'd drive the beast for a few months (if I was lucky), then tow it's smoldering remains to the junkyard.
Today, I got to see where at least some of those cars likely ended up. Huron Valley Steel, located on the outskirts of Detroit, is one of the largest automotive scrap metal recyclers in the US. They specialize in non-ferrous metals (aluminum, mostly, since about 75% of the non-ferrous metal in a car is aluminum), and they process approximately 6,000 cars each month. It's a behemoth operation, covering about 80 acres, full of the industrial noises and smells you'd expect.
The biggest surprise was the involved process they have for salvaging coins from scrap autos. I'm not kidding. According to my contact, they salvage an average of 1.37 from each and every one of those cars. Of course, the coins have been through the crusher and shredder, so they're pretty mangled, but HVS sells them to the US Mint at a poundage rate that's approximately equal to the face value. I love learning about cool little details like this.