HOW ARE CARS RECYCLED?

Step into one of the UK’s largest car recycling centres to discover the secrets of a vehicle disassembly line

- SCOTT DUTFIELD

Where do cars go when their engines fail and their exhaust pipes are exhausted? Thousands of cars in the UK find themselves at the pearly gates of Charles Trent recycling centre in Poole, Dorset. Since 1926, Charles Trent has been taking unwanted cars and giving them a new lease of life. The recycling centre has recently added a 12-metre-tall, 8,500-square-metre facility that includes arguably the most advanced salvage and dismantling process in the country. Watching the production line is like seeing the assembly of a car in reverse. Although it’s got some of the scrapyard staples, such as the forecourt full of cars awaiting the inevitable crushing by a compactor, the process that leads to them becoming a cube is efficient and leaves no good parts behind.

In the UK, legislation means that the automotive recycling industry must ensure that at least 95 per cent of a car’s weight is either recycled, repurposed or resold when it comes to the end of its life. Charles Trent is operating slightly higher at around 96.3 per cent, but its main focus is to capitalise on the reusable parts, as well as what other materials can be recycled.

Upon arrival at the recycling centre, cars are analysed on their quality, and the sum of their saleable parts is evaluated. Generally, if a car has less than 20 resellable parts it continues through to Charles Trent’s deproduction line. If a vehicle has more than 20, which are typically higher end motors such as Lamborghinis, then they are moved to a workshop where these parts are stripped by hand. For those left on the deproduction line, within the next hour they will be stripped down to their chassis, which is then compacted and the metal recycled.