Going Green: Classic Auto Group’s Clean Energy Initiatives and Automotive Recycling

Nov 15, 2023

Did you know that every minute, around 26 vehicles are recycled in the US per minute? Conversations around ecological conservation, global warming, and renewable energy are becoming more and more frequent as politicians, citizens, and businesses work together to create a greener future. In light of that, we thought it would be a great idea to celebrate America Recycles Day by highlighting efforts the automotive industry is doing in order to recycle and reuse metal and other materials in efforts to be more eco-conscious!

Automotive recycling accounts for 14 million tons of recycled steel, or the equivalent of more than 13 million cars. In fact, vehicles are the most recycled item in all of the US, with around 95% of decommissioned and defunct vehicles being recycled annually. More than 27 million vehicles are recycled around the globe annually, and 12 million of those are from right here in the US! Automotive recycling industry in the United States provides jobs to over 100,000 people, and nearly $25 billion in revenue. And the North American (US/CA) auto recycling saves 85 million oil barrels each year, and enough reclaimed steel to create 13 million new cars!

Everything from steel and aluminum to car batteries (a whopping 98% are recycled) windshield glass, carpets,rubber hoses, and even seat belts can be repurposed or recycled! Even tires can be recycled and repurposed into new goods such as rubber for shoes and sandals, filler for playground surfaces, etc. Experts anticipate that scrap metal recycling will total upwards of $60 billion by the end of 2021, with about 60% of scrap metals being recycled from the automotive industry over the next 10 years.

Did you know that 86% of your car’s parts can be recycled? Here’s a great list of parts that can be reclaimed, repurposed, or recycled for use in other vehicles by automotive enthusiasts and mechanics:

Vehicle batteries
Select computerized elements
Gently used or new tires
Hoods
Bumpers and fenders
Transmissions
Other specialty parts in good condition

Other materials from your vehicle that can’t be salvaged for use in another vehicle, but are upcycled and repurposed everywhere include:

Glass which is recycled into concrete, glass bottles, insulation, jewelry, and even countertops.
Oil gets cleaned, refined and repurposed for use in other applications. In fact, 85 million barrels of oil are saved every year through recycling.
Rubber tires are shredded and broken down into things such as mulch, playground surfaces, running and race tracks.
Steel and aluminum from vehicle bodies and frames.

We’re turning over a new leaf, and going green with our new environmentally conscious efforts to reduce our carbon footprint. We live, love, work, and play right here in this beautiful city on this beautiful planet, just the same as you. That’s why we’re committed to caring for our community and the environment we live in for generations to come. Let’s “leaf” this planet better than we found it, together! Check out today’s blog to learn more about how we’re making strides to join [Toyota] [Kia] in their brand commitment to a brighter, cleaner, greener tomorrow.

Here are some other things we do here at Classic Auto Group to reduce our carbon footprint and create a greener, cleaner future for our communities:

We get 90% of our power from solar generated energy.
We recycle waste oil for heating and other uses.
We recycle tires to keep them out of landfills and shred them to make materials for safer playgrounds for kids.
We recycle parts that become everything from building materials to new parts!
We equipped our facility with EV charging stations