SW-103of
THE AUTO DISMANTLING INDUSTRY
A Survey of Solid Waste Management
Practices in Four Cities
U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
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THE AUTOMOBILE DISMANTLING INDUSTRY
A Survey of Solid Waste Management Practices in Four Cities
This open-file report (SW-103of)
was prepared for the Federal solid waste management program
by the BUREAU OF DOMESTIC COMMERCE, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
1973
•:r .agency
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CONTENTS
PAGE
PREFACE iii
SUMMARY 1
THE AUTOMOBILE DISMANTLING INDUSTRY 5
FUNCTION 5
LOCATION 5
SIZE 6
EQUIPMENT 7
CAR SOURCE 7
OPERATIONAL CHARACTERISTICS 8
VEHICLE INVENTORY 11
PARTS STORAGE 11
THROUGHPUT AND CAPACITY 12
PRICES 12
ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS 13
Solid Waste Generation ; 13
Solid Waste Management 14
REFERENCES 16
APPENDIX A: METHODOLOGY 17
APPENDIX B: SCRAP PROCESSING EQUIPMENT 19
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TABLE PAGE
1 NUMBER OF ESTABLISHMENTS SURVEYED AND
EMPLOYMENT (1968) 23
2 CAPITAL ASSETS OF ESTABLISHMENTS
SURVEYED (1968) 24
3 TOTAL CAPITAL INVESTMENT (1968) 25
4 DISTRIBUTION OF CAPITAL INVESTMENT
BY TYPE (1968) 26
5 EQUIPMENT BY TYPE AND NUMBER (1968) 27
6 JUNKED CAR SOURCE BY TYPE (1968) 28
7 DISMANTLERS' OPERATIONAL CHARACTERISTICS:
INCOMING AUTOMOBILES (1968) 29
8 DISPOSITION OF INVENTORY AND STAGE
OF PROCESSING (1968) 30
9 DISMANTLERS' INVENTORY AND TURNOVER (1968) 31
10 DISMANTLERS1 PARTS STORAGE (1968) 32
11 DISMANTLERS' CAPACITY (1968) 33
12 ESTIMATED WEIGHT OF SOLID WASTES GENERATED,
EXCLUDING METAL SCRAP (1968) 34
13 REPORTED METHODS OF SOLID WASTE
REMOVAL (1968) 35
14 SOLID WASTE DISPOSAL FACILITIES USED (1968) 36
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AUTHOR'S PREFACE
This report incorporates the results of two studies of the automobile
dismantling industry in the United States in 1968: (1) a broad overview of the
industry, (2) an analysis of solid waste management practices in four cities
which are typical of situations and problems faced by the industry as a whole.
Both of these studies were made primarily by Edward W. Hassell, before his
retirement from the U.S. Department of Commerce. Editing and correlating of
the material were performed in the Bureau of Domestic Commerce, Office of
Business Research and Analysis, Metals and Minerals Division, James M. Owens,
Director.
Appreciation for assistance on the general description is extended to
members of the automobile dismantling and scrap processing industries, the
National Auto and Truck Wreckers Association, Inc., the United States Auto
Dismantlers Association, and the Institute of Scrap Iron and Steel, as well as
to the Bureau of Public Roads, Department of Transportation; the Bureau of Mines,
Department of the Interior; the Office of Air Programs, and the Office of Solid
Waste Management Programs, both of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The four-city surveys provide information to help define areas where
research and development programs may be required to solve specialized solid
waste management problems in the industry. In addition, they provide necessary
reference data for broader action programs on the total solid waste management
problem of the country.
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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency provided financial support in
making these surveys possible.
The following organizations performed the four field surveys:
Company Study Area
Battelle Memorial Institute
Columbus, Ohio
Midwest Research Institute
Kansas City, Missouri
Southwest Research Institute
Houston, Texas
Ralph Stone & Company
Los Angeles, California
Buffalo, New York
St. Louis, Missouri
Amarillo, Texas
Provo, Utah
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SUMMARY
National concern with conservation of natural resources and the quality
of our environment, has brought attention to those industries directly or
indirectly contributing to the reuse or recycling of materials. The
automobile dismantling industry is such an industry. Its livelihood depends
on the recovery for sale of automobile parts, and in removing the parts it
reduces the vehicle to a hulk capable of salvage for its steel content.
In recognition of the importance of this industry in the scrap recovery
cycle, two studies were undertaken to gain broader knowledge of the economics
of automobile dismantling.* These studies provide insight into the role of
the industry in the collection and disposition of junked motor vehicles, and
into the various problems related to these activities. The problems include
environmental quality—air pollution control, solid waste management, highway
beautification—viable scrap markets, and costs of moving vehicles and scrap.
The first study, of the auto wrecking industry on a nationwide basis,
focused on the nature and characteristics of the industry and the economics of
its operations.+
The second study was designed to obtain further information on the nature
of the automobile dismantling business, particularly its solid waste management
practices. For this purpose 74 firms primarily engaged in this business in
four cities were interviewed regarding their operations. Both studies are
based upon operations of the industry in 1968. Methods and procedures for
each study are presented in Appendix A.
The immediate objectives of the four-city survey were to analyze
automobile dismantling operations and identify, measure, and evaluate the
problems associated with solid waste management. The industry comprises
establishments primarily engaged in the business of: (1) taking in damaged,
junked, or abandoned motor vehicles; (2) stripping them of useful parts;
(3) selling the parts and other valuable materials, including the stripped
hulk; (4) disposing of the residue, consisting of tires, glass, seats,
upholstery, etc.
The surveys gathered information on a wide range of topics, including
employment, operating procedures, number of automobiles processed, methods of
acquiring junked automobiles, quantities of solid waste generated, solid waste
handling practices including storage and disposal, economics of solid waste
management, and environmental aspects of automobile wrecking operations.
In the four-city survey, the cities (Amarillo, Texas; Buffalo, New York;
Provo, Utah; and St. Louis, Missouri) were selected to represent a cross-section
*Descriptive terms such as "dismantler," "wrecker," and "salvager" are
used interchangeably in the industry and are so used in this report.
+In preliminary, unedited form the results of the study on the economics
of the auto dismantling industry were published in Scrap Age, February 1970.
It was subsequently referred to in other publications, and an expanded, unedited
version was reprinted in full in: Disposal of junked and abandoned motor
vehicles; hearings before the Subcommittee on Air and Water Pollution of the
Committee on Public Works, U.S. Senate, 91st Cong., 2d sess., S.4197 and S.4204,
Aug. 19 and 26, 1970. Washington, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1970.
p.137-235.
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of the urban and rural areas, at different population levels and geographic
locations. The activity of the dismantlers was measured against their
throughput of approximately 35,000 cars.
The following basic facts were collected about the 74 dismantlers
visited, their operations, and their solid waste management practices:
1. The firms surveyed consisted primarily of small companies, in terms
of size of employment. Eighty-eight percent of the establishments employed
from one to six workers. One of every 10 was a one-man operation.
2. Location, land availability, and capital afforded certain dismantlers
competitive advantages over others.
3. Dismantlers in the two major population centers were limited in the
size of their operations because of the availability and cost of land. Urban
dismantlers were particularly affected. Generally, only the urban dismantler
had sufficient covered space for warehousing of parts and servicing. However,
he did not have sufficient land to retain a large working inventory of
automobiles. The opposite was true of the suburban and rural dismantler, both
with respect to covered storage space and acreage. As a rule the urban
dismantlers: (a) concentrated on handling late-model automobiles whose parts,
because of greater demand, could be sold more quickly and at a higher profit
than those of older vehicles; (b) used formal inventory control procedures
for their salable parts; (c) turned over their inventory more quickly than
their suburban and rural counterparts.
4. Dismantlers obtained about 96 percent of their vehicles throughput
by purchase. Fifty-five percent of dismantlers' inventories were acquired
from insurance companies, 27 percent from private owners, 17 percent from car
dealers, and 1 percent from municipal governments and other sources.
Dismantlers employing 10 or more workers relied almost entirely on insurance
companies for vehicle supply and purchased over half of the insurance company
vehicles in the throughput of the sample in the study. Approximately 90
percent of junked vehicles acquired from private owners were tak«>n in by
wreckers in the sample employing one to three workers.
5. The rate of turnover among the surveyed firms was dependent upon how
soon a vehicle was stripped of desirable parts and the expeditious disposal of
the hulk. A contributing factor to the necessity for quick turnover was the
urban dismantler's low-acreage yard. The larger dismantlers with seven
employees processed over twice as many cars as the smaller firms in the
sample; they reclaimed more parts per car, and then processed/disposed of a
greater amount of residual materials. The only data on costs available from
the four surveys showed that in the St. Louis area it cost a dismantler about
$5.75 to dispose of a hulk to a scrap processor and in Amarillo it cost $3 to
$4. This is a net cost related to revenue from the sale of the hulk to a
scrap processor and the expenditures involved in its disposition,, It does
not take into account the revenue from sale of parts.
6. The dismantlers operated on the principle that the automobiles they
took in should have recoverable parts of a value greater than the costs of
acquisition, dismantling and distribution. Therefore, a large number of the
dismantlers restricted their operations to automobiles of "recent vintage."
7. The dismantlers interviewed used similar dismantling techniques,
sales methods, and overall business practices. They were all affected by
local and State regulations. The dismantler, who could purchase better quality
vehicles having more salvageable parts, usually was better able to provide a
cleaner hulk to the scrap processor and command a higher price for that hulk.
8. Selection of parts for salvage was determined by the age and make of
car, condition of the part, and estimated market demand. Urban dismantlers
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could provide faster service for parts than suburban or rural dismantlers because
they were closer to the large urban market (repair shops and engine rebuilders),
and because the parts were already dismantled.
9. The nonrecoverable waste materials generated by dismantling were an
operational problem and a cost of business. The problem was made more acute by
ordinances banning open burning. These bans denied the dismantler what was
traditionally his cheapest and easiest method of disposing of the combustible
wastes and of preparing the hulk for the scrap processor.
10. Approximately 312 pounds of wastes per car were generated in the
disman.tH.nji.of junk cars in the surveyed areas.
11. Few dismantlers had storage facilities for waste materials. With the
exception of tires, most wastes were stored on or in the hulks. There was little
separation of waste materials from the metal scrap by burning since this had
been banned in most areas. Suburban and rural wreckers not covered by city
ordinances still burned all or part of their wastes. However, 20 dismantlers
indicated that most of their waste was removed in turning over the hulks to the
scrap processor.
12. The most prevalent method of removing wastes from the dismantler's
yard was by contract; 36 dismantlers reported using, private collectors.
Private dumps were used as repositories for wastes by 32 dismantlers.
13. Because of their appearance, the dismantling operations surveyed
contributed to the overall environmental blight in the study areas. Although
they were frequently in industrial areas, in conformance with their
surroundings, or in remote rural areas, in too many cases the yards were
responsible for aesthetic degradation. Air pollution was a problem in areas
that still permitted open burning.
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THE AUTOMOBILE DISMANTLING INDUSTRY
Function
The automobile dismantler or wrecker is principally concerned about the
useful parts he can salvage and sell from the junked motor vehicles he handles.
In addition, he sells the hulk, left over after stripping, to a scrap processor,
whose function it is to prepare the scrap metal so it can be sold to the iron
and steel and foundry industries for reuse. The dismantler must also dispose
of the other waste materials generated as a result of his business, i.e., those
materials which have zero or negative value and for which recycling is not
currently a feasible possibility.
The dismantler makes a contribution to the economy by assuring the
availability of replacement parts for the repair of millions of motor vehicles
(automobilest trucks, and buses) in the United States. Without these parts,
older model vehicles would probably not be repaired. In addition, dismantlers
are the primary—and in many areas the only—depositories for junked cars.
In 1968, an estimated 33,000 companies with about 132,000 employees were
engaged in the dismantling business.1 The industry is characterized by a
large number of small companies, many of them one-man operations.
However, the economic impact of the industry is not small. In 1968, it
handled an estimated 9.0 million vehicles, including some 1.3 million which
previously had been abandoned and were moved into the scrap cycle as a result
of community cleanup campaigns. The industry's receipts from these 9.0 million
vehicles are estimated at about $4.8 billion, or $530 per vehicle handled. An
average of $280 was paid for each incoming vehicle, leaving $250 per vehicle
for operating expenses and profit.
Location
The need for the services of the dismantling industry has spawned its
growth in every corner of the country.
Generally, the number of companies operating in a given area or community
varies with the population. Urban centers are thus the most attractive
locations for auto dismantlers because of their proximity to junk auto and used
parts markets. Exceptions to this general pattern occur in some small rural
communities where occupational opportunities are limited and incentives for
going into the auto wrecker business are apparently greater.
The location of the auto wrecker is typically in an area zoned for
industrial use. To a lesser extent, the dismantler may be situated in a retail/
commercial, or other zone. "Non-conforming" use by a firm is sometimes
permitted when the business was operating in the area prior to zoning.
Emphasis on beautification of the environment has created a situation in some
areas whereby new licensing applications for this and related industries have
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been denied because of envisioned detrimental aesthetic aspects.
Approximately one-half of all auto dismantling businesses are located on
Interstate and Federally-aided primary road systems1 and are subject to the
provisions of the Highway Reautification Act of 1965 with respect to screening
or removal.
Size
The data collected from the 74 firms canvassed in the four-city surveys
in 1968 show that the average automobile dismantling firm (1) employed about
four workers; (2) was located on a 7.4 acre site; (3) had storage or covered
work space equivalent to a 90- by 50-ft building (although this excludes the
firms—almost 25 percent of the sample—reporting no covered storage facility);
(4) used approximately four machine-driven pieces of equipment; (5) had a
capital investment, excluding automobile and parts inventory, of a little more
than $32,000 (Tables 1-4).
This profile indicates a relatively small-scale business operation.
Sixty-four percent of all firms surveyed employed three persons or less, and
88 percent employed six and fewer workers, including the owner (Table 1).
Approximately 1 out of every 10 firms canvassed is a one-man operation.
Moreover small companies (one to three employees) are not restricted to small
population areas. In all the cities surveyed, except Provo, the percentage of
firms employing one to three workers ranged from 58 to 63 percent; in Provo,
80 percent of the firms were in this size classification. None of the Provo
firms had more than five workers.
The one- to three-man firms, almost two-thirds of those surveyed, had the
following physical characteristics: (1) a staff of 2.3 employees including
the owner; (2) a site of 6.9 acres; (3) either no covered facilities (25 percent
of reporting firms) or a small, covered structure of about 40 by 40 ft; (4)
a capital investment, excluding inventory, of about $22,800, or two-thirds the
average for all firms; (5) more dependence on power-driven equipment, such as
various trucks, trailers, cranes, and tractors (4.3 pieces per company) than
firms with more employees.
Land is important because it represents storage space for automobiles
dismantled or in the process of being dismantled and is a capital investment
or rental expense. In the two major population centers of St. Louis and
Buffalo, the high cost of land limited the physical size of companies. The
7.4-acre average for 72 survey respondents is misleading, because several
dismantlers had very large lots (Table 2). The median size for the 72
respondents was 4 acres, with 25 companies having less than 2 acres of land
each.
Because of inconsistencies in reporting among the four cities it is not
possible to measure precisely the land differences among urban, suburban, and
rural dismantlers. The St. Louis distribution, however, is probably
representative. The average urban wrecker there had a lot of about: 1.5 acres,
the suburban wrecker 5.7 acres, and the rural wrecker 5.9 acres.
Not all dismantlers had covered storage and work space (buildings). The
average for 56 companies reporting covered space was 4,614 sq ft; 18 reported
that they had no covered work or storage facility. As with land, the average
for building space is misleading because several operators had large structures.
The median size for the 56 companies with buildings was 1,800 sq ft; 20
operators reported buildings with 1,000 sq ft or less.
The St. Louis data showed differences in covered storage space between
-urban and rural operations. The average building space for 16 urban dismantlers
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was 8,060 sq ft; that for two suburban dismantlers was 670 sq ft; and that
for eight rural dismantlers was 1,360 sq ft.
Companies in the 1- to 3-employee group averaged the least amount of
building space with only 1,600 sq ft (Table 2).
Capital investment totalled $2.4 million, or an average of $32,100
for the 74 establishments participating in the surveys (Table 3).
For the 43 firms reporting capital investment by type the average
investment in land and buildings was $24,400 per company (Table 4).
Excluding one of the very large dismantlers gives a more realistic average
capital investment figure of $20,000. Almost 80 percent of capital
investment was in land. The median capital value of site and buildings
was $13,500 with 16 of 43 companies reporting capital investment in
land and buildings of less than $10,000.
Equipment
Heavy-duty, power-driven equipment including trucks, tractor-trailers
and cranes are used by the automobile dismantling industry for moving and
hauling the vehicles, both within and in and out of the yard. Trucks
are used for delivery of component parts and also for removal of waste
material. Small hand-type tools, such as chisels, wrenches, etc., are
used in handstripping a vehicle. For greater efficiency, firms able to
do so use electric- and air-powered hand tools. Some firms use
specialized machinery in pulling/removing the engines. Incinerators
capable of burning several hulks at once, to remove waste and provide
a cleaner hulk, are also being used by some wreckers. Such machinery as
balers, shearers, and car flatteners are used by those dismantlers who
have diversified their business to include a related function in the
scrap recovery cycle. A description of incinerators and other equipment
listed above is presented in Appendix B.
Equipment used in the collection and routine operations of wreckers'
yards in the four-city survey accounted for only about 10 percent of the
total capital investment. The reported costs of equipment averaged out
at $528 apiece, but this figure is hardly plausible since a good portion
of the typical wrecker's equipment is old and usually put together by
the dismantler himself. Accounting for the high average was the number
of large pieces of equipment used by wreckers with other business
interests. For example, two companies in the Buffalo area had balers,
which are more expensive than the lighter pieces of wrecker equipment.
Other wreckers offer towing service separate and distinct from their
dismantling operations. As a rule, these firms use later model tow
trucks for this purpose. All 74 reporting companies provided information
on the equipment they used (Table 5).
Car Source
There appear to be no particular price variations in acquiring
junk vehicles due to geographic location. The controlling factor
in virtually all instances appears to be related to two aspects:
condition of the vehicle in question, and the competitive situation
surrounding sources of supply for acquisition of vehicles in any
given area. For example, where junked vehicles are plentiful with
few dealers competing, prices are likely to be very low. If, on the
other hand, vehicles are scarce and dealers plentiful, then prices
paid are likely to be high regardless of the geographical area of
activity.
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The vehicles for dismantling come from several sources, including:
private individuals, automobile dealers, insurance companies, and
State and local agencies which have impounded vehicles, many as a
result of programs to collect abandoned vehicles.2 Insurance company
auction pools where wreckers bid for vehicles are the primary sources
for the auto wrecking dealer. Automobiles from insurance company
auction pools have the highest value to a dismantler. The increased
importance of the auction pool as a source has contributed to a
substantial increase in the cost of acquiring late model vehicles in
relatively good condition for parts salvage. State and local agencies
are also becoming more important as sources, especially in areas where
impounding and/or towing of abandoned vehicles is practiced.
Most dismantlers prefer late-model vehicles because there is
a bigger market for their parts. The dismantler reserves the right
to reject vehicles, especially early models with any damage to the
body, even if they are delivered to his yard.
The rate of acquisition, as well as of disposition, of junked
and abandoned vehicles by auto wreckers depends upon several factors
other than the number of cars annually removed from service. Among
these are proximity to scrap markets for junk bodies, prices for
auto scrap, prices for used parts, processing costs, State safety
inspection laws, and availability of labor. All of these play a part in
determining how many vehicles a dealer will acquire in any given period.
Trends in some of these factors can help to offset each other.
For example, declining prices for auto scrap metal and increasing
restrictions placed upon open burning of automobiles have made dealers
hesitant about taking in older vehicles while the steady price level
for used parts of the older models has tended to counteract that
reluctance.
Statistics compiled from the responding companies in the four-city
survey show insurance companies were the major source in the study
areas in 1968, providing 55 percent of the vehicles (Table 6) .
Establishments employing 10 or more workers accounted for 52 percent
of the automobiles acquired from insurance companies. Wreckers in
the larger population centers tend to rely more on insurance companies
as a source of automobiles than do the smaller communities. This is
a tentative conclusion based on the reports from three of the four
survey cities which showed the following purchases from insurance
companies: Amarillo, 17.7 percent; Provo, 8.3 percent; St. Louis,
72 .7 percent.
Private owners were the second largest source of vehicles in the
surveyed cities. About 90 percent of the vehicles acquired from
individuals were taken by wreckers with one to three employees. These
smaller wreckers were also the major purchasers of automobiles acquired
from new and used car dealers.
The smallest dismantlers (1 to 3 employees) acquired 46 percent of
their working inventory from individuals and 28 percent from insurance
companies, while the larger wreckers (4 or more employees) used
insurance companies as their primary source for junked cars.
Operational Characteristics
Once he has a vehicle, the dismantler can handle the vehicle in
one of three ways:
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1. Dismantle it at once, store the parts for future sale,
dispose of the waste material, and sell the hulk fairly quickly; this
method was generally used by the urban dismantler, who had little
vehicle storage space. Labor costs for the stripping operation
depend upon the efficiency and equipment of the worker and the hourly
wage rate. Moreover, even with efficient labor it was difficult to
do a stripping job completely acceptable to the relatively high
standard set by scrap dealers for avoiding contamination from nonferrous
metals, principally copper. Most wreckers avoided hand stripping unless
no other alternative was available.
2. Store it as is, then remove the parts as needed; this was the
most commonly used method because it required less labor, and in most
cases involving this type of handling, storage space for the vehicle
was not a problem. Dismantlers in suburban and rural areas, generally
were able to operate in this manner because of their more spacious
yards. The hulk was disposed of when all salvageable parts had been
removed. This could cover a time span of up to a year or more.
3. Reduce or eliminate the dismantling process altogether, making
little or no attempt to reclaim any parts; storing the vehicle for
eventual removal to a scrap processor. This handling method usually
was employed when it was apparent the value of recoverable parts,
if any, was negligible. Vehicles handled in this manner probably have
been accepted by the wrecker as a public service.
The method by which the dismantler chooses to operate is determined
by the area of his land, the condition and age of the vehicle, the
size of his inventory, the scrap processor's location and type of
operation, and the scrap metal market situation.
After the parts have been removed from the vehicle, the dismantler
disposes of the hulk. If he is fortunate, he may find a scrap processor
who will take it as is, with upholstery, seats, and other waste materials,
There are, however, very few opportunities for such easy disposal. A
processor having a shredder operation with incinerator attachment is
most likely to buy this kind of hulk. In most cases, the dismantler
will further strip the hulk to make it acceptable to the processor.
Baling and shearing operations usually prefer a preburned hulk,
unless they have their own incinerator facilities.
In the past, open burning of the hulk was the least expensive and
most widely used disposal method for waste material. Increasing
restrictions on open burning because of air pollution controls now
sharply limit the use of this convenient method in many areas.
Hand stripping, a second method dismantlers use to remove waste
materials, is being more widely used in areas that ban open burning.
The expense of hand stripping in some marginal operations precludes
this alternative as not being economically feasible. Also, as stated
above, it is difficult to strip a hulk to meet the standards set by
some scrap processors.
A third method for removing waste is to burn the hulk in an
incinerator to clean it. The high cost of special incinerators which
would meet air pollution regulations has limited the switch to this
controlled incineration.
A final step in getting a hulk ready for sale may be reduction
in its volume. This is often done by flattening it so it can be
shipped via flatbed truck, or by compacting it into bales. Bales
are sold directly to steel mills or foundries.
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If the dismantler cannot sell the hulks at a profit, he either hauls
them to a "graveyard" or lets them accumulate in his yard until the
market improves. These accumulations are aesthetically displeasing; they
constitute one of the major environmental problems associated with the
automobile dismantling industry. According to the U.S. Department
of the Interior,3 the dismantling industry inventory of junk cars in
1965 was equivalent to about one and one-quarter times the annual
throughput. (In contrast, the scrap processing industry's inventory
of junk cars was less than one-tenth of throughput.) The industry's
inventories are increasing, rising from an estimated 6.6 million in
1965 to an estimated 12 million in 1970. These inventories represent
unused resources, while contributing to environmental blight.
It has been noted that the dismantler's decision to keep hulks
hinges on the high costs of preparing and transporting them to
processors, relative to the current price of scrap. Preparation
costs are on the rise because of the previously mentioned air pollution
restrictions which ban open burning and regulate incinerator emissions.
More economical transportation techniques, i.e., competitive advantage
in freight rate structure and adequate rail equipment, or shorter
distances between dismantlers and scrap processors, could help reduce
inventories. Transportation costs can be critical in rural areas
because the nearest processor may be several hundred miles away.
Operating characteristics of the firms surveyed in the four
cities followed rather closely the patterns described above for the
industry generally.
The auto dismantlers in the four cities surveyed were in
operation five and one-half of six 8-hour days per week. An exception
was the rural wrecker who remained open on Sunday to sell parts . In
general, the firms recognized the usual legal holidays.
A situation which is causing some apprehension among small
dismantlers is that one source for their inventory, i.e., the abandoned
automobile, as a result of community cleanup programs is being taken
directly to collection depots and/or the scrap processor for handling,
bypassing the dismantling function.
The highest profits came from the dismantling of late-model cars
and the resale of their component parts. Dismantlers reason that owners
of newer automobiles have a larger investment to protect and will be likely
to pay more money for replacement parts than owners of older cars. The
profit margin that the dismantler expects to receive from the automobile,
and his profit reliance, are contingent upon the value of the automobile.
The dismantlers' rationale follows these lines. If a 1969 Ford
has been severely damaged in an accident to the rear end, the front
end parts are salvageable. These parts are only 2 to 3 years old and
have a high resale value. A dismantler expects a high profit margin
on such a car, and his profit reliance will be on the sale of these
salvaged replacement parts to be used in other late-model Fords.
Of the 74 companies reporting, 33 practiced the theory that
late-model automobiles are the most profitable to handle (Table 7).
Of the 33 firms that imposed age restrictions as a purchase criterion,
15 would not accept cars more than 5 years old; eight would accept 1962
models; two would take 1961 models; five would take models from 1960; and
three would accept late 1950 cars. Each of the five wreckers
employing 10 or more workers had model-year restrictions.
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One wrecker would not accept foreign automobiles because of the
limited market for parts in his area. Other restrictions encountered
in the four surveys include: (1) no foreign cars except Volkswagens
were accepted; (2) only impounded cars were accepted; (3) only
unburned wrecks were purchased.
In accepting cars, dismantlers were concerned only with those
damages that affected the utility or value of the individual parts.
The most serious damages are those to the most valuable parts—engines,
engine parts, and transmissions. Wreckers accepted automobiles with
parts already removed if those remaining were valuable enough to justify
dismantling and distribution costs.
Wreckers did not usually purchase cars if: (1) the company had
an agreement to collect and keep free of charge those vehicles turned
over to it by the local government (only four agreements were reported
for 74 companies); (2) the recoverable value of the parts was so low
that the wrecker would handle it only if the owner gave him the car.
In most instances, towing charges were deducted from the price the
dismantler paid for a car.
Vehicle Inventory
A summary of inventory data collected in the four-city survey showed
that 40,220 vehicles were being held by 72 wreckers, or 559 per
company (Table 8). The median was 260; 24 firms were holding less
than 200 vehicles and 13 had inventories in excess of 1,000.
Firms employing one to three workers had an average inventory
of 486 vehicles compared with 687 for firms with more than three workers.
However, the small firm had more vehicles completely dismantled and
awaiting disposal-125 per firm, compared with 100 per firm for the
larger companies.
The rate of inventory turnover for a wrecker is determined both by
his ability to process vehicles with desirable and marketable parts
and his ability to dispose of dismantled, space-consuming hulks. The
large, urban wreckers, who were more discriminating in the types of
vehicles they purchased, turned over their vehicle inventory faster
than the rural dismantler. Urban wreckers employing 10 or more workers
turned over their vehicle inventory more than once a year (Table 9).
With the exception of those firms with one to three workers, each
size group turned over their inventory at least once a year. The
smaller dismantlers processed approximately 60 percent of their inventory
in a year and turned over their inventory completely in about 20 months.
Parts Storage
As a rule, those wreckers who dismantled cars soon after acquiring
them stripped them of everything that they thought could be sold at a
profit (engines, engine parts, transmissions, doors, windshields,
batteries, radios, radiators, body parts, and tires). Much of the
resalable parts were placed in working storage. Forty-seven of the
74 companies surveyed stored some or all of their parts inventory
under cover, i.e., in buildings (Table 10). The largest establishments store,
on the average, about 48 percent of their parts inventory under cover.
Firms have instituted various inventory control systems for parts
location, ranging from card index files and telephone longlines and
11
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telex systems within a certain area, to inventory reports included
in trade journals. However, some firms have virtually no inventory
control except for damaged autos on hand.
Throughput and Capacity
Industry sources indicate that the average dealer usually disposes
of about as many units as he takes in during the year. While a wrecker
may not necessarily dispose of a given vehicle within a year, it does
suggest an annual disposal rate equivalent to about one year's purchases.
It should be noted that there is an important relationship between
the total number of motor vehicles removed from registration (scrapped)
each year, and thus theoretically available to the auto wrecking industry,
and the number of vehicles actually taken in by the industry. An
estimated 7 million vehicles were scrapped in 1968,^ compared with
9 million taken in by the wrecking industry. Thus, the industry
vehicle take-in rate during 1968 appears to have not only matched
the junked vehicle rate, but to have also cut into the enormous national
backlog of abandoned vehicles.
Various reasons can be given for appreciable variations between
the scrapped vehicle rate and the vehicle take-in rate of the auto
wreckers in some States. The auto wrecking industry itself, in a given
state, might be especially active and aggressive in taking in vehicles.
Local zoning regulations might be more lenient in one State than in
a nearby State, thereby influencing junk vehicles to move to areas where
inventory storage might be more available. Public pride in the quality
of their environment may prompt citizen action in cleaning up their
communities of abandoned automobiles, thereby moving these vehicles into
the reclamation cycle. Restrictions on open burning of vehicles by
auto wreckers to prepare them for the scrap metal market may cause
junked vehicles to move from one area to other less restrictive; areas.
Finally, location of auto wrecking yards in relation to scrap handling
and disposal facilities might have some effect upon the junk auto
inventory of dealers in some States.
In 1968, 70 wreckers in the four cities reported processing 34,700
automobiles for an average of 496 per company. Companies employing
more than six workers processed the most vehicles per firm, but the
smaller companies with from one to six employees processed 75 percent
of the total.
Many wreckers were not in a position to evaluate what effect
1968 price increases for body scrap would have on their business.
A more favorable scrap market would tend to clear out dismantled
hulks and motivate wreckers to invest in more junked cars.
Forty-five establishments estimated their capacity at 28,393
automobiles (Table 11). The 45 companies were operating at an average
90.2 percent of their rated capacity; however, 28 reported that they
were operating at what they believed to be capacity.
Prices
Although dealers may get some obsolete or badly damaged vehicles
for little or nothing, many dealers report that it is not unusual
to pay $500 or more for a late-model, junked vehicle with many
salable used parts.
12
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It is common practice, at least for the low-profit dismantler,
to work backwards from the price of scrap in setting the price he
will pay for a vehicle. If scrap prices are low, the dismantler
rejects marginal-value cars, accepting only those that will yield
enough revenue from the sale of parts to cover acquisition, dismantling,
and disposal costs. When this happens, owners frequently abandon
vehicles, and the local government is faced with the abandonment
problem. This is the case noted in the survey in St. Louis,
Missouri, where derelict cars picked up by the city outnumber
those considered salvageable by the area's dismantlers.
Environmental Aspects
Solid Waste Generation. Among the major problems of the
industry are those associated with environmental quality improvement
programs of the Federal, State, and local governments. These include
(1) increasingly stringent controls placed upon burning of scrap
automobile bodies, with its resultant air pollution; (2) disposal of
the great volume of waste accumulated in the course of the industry
operations, including such things as seats, upholstery, scrap tires,
and other materials; (3) economic problems caused by the inability
with present technology to convert efficiently much of the waste
materials generated by the industry; (4) appearance of the area.
In dismantling the average vehicle the auto wrecker must deal
with a substantial amount of waste byproducts. For example, dismantling
and analysis of a composite typical automobile (1954-1965 vintage)5
shows 374 Ibs of nonmetallic materials. While some of this material,
chiefly glass and tires, is recovered for resale, it is estimated that
about 295 Ibs is actually waste materials with no presently recoverable
value.
The industry accounts for a small part (approximately 1.2 million
tons) of the some 110 million tons of industrial waste generated in
the United States.6 However, because of its nature, auto wrecking
waste is an important factor in solid waste management in many communities.
The appearance of an automobile dismantling operation is of concern
to the public and the industry. Fencing tends to give the yard a
tidier appearance, but because the primary purpose is security, the
fencing is generally not attractive. Legislation has partially corrected
the problem near major Interstate and Federally-aided highways, but
the cover-up achieved by screening is not the best solution. In
industrial areas, dismantlers' operations may be in harmony with their
surroundings, but in rural and other areas away from industry, dismantling
yards along with auto graveyards are frequently major offenders to
an aesthetically pleasing environment.
Air pollution is another environmental problem. Although open
burning is being outlawed in many areas, it continues to be relied on
in numerous rural areas. New incinerator developments7 for controlling
the particulate emission to an allowable level is gaining interest among
the higher capitalized dismantlers although few such facilities are
in existence. Enclosed burners currently in use for disposing of the
non-metallic materials also fail to meet modern air pollution standards
generally under adoption by municipalities.
The control of pests and rodents is a continuing problem to the
industry, particularly in suburban and rural areas where the inventory
13
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of vehicles is large. In the cities surveyed, however, health hazards
were at a minimum, as reported by health department officials.
Dismantling operations do not use process water, hence water
pollution is not a problem associated with this industry.
Safety hazards do exist. Yard equipment, i.e., cranes, trucks,
etc., can cause injury. In those yards which do not dismantle cars
as they are received, but stack the vehicles for later removal of
parts, there is a particular safety hazard in working among the stacked
cars. Protective clothing, such as safety glasses, hard-toed shoes,
and particularly gloves, are sometimes used. A possible safety factor
concerns the attractive nuisance which an unfenced yard may present to
children. Federal regulations regarding fencing where they apply, control
this possibility, but these regulations have little application in rural areas
away from major highways.
Noise pollution is common to many dismantlers. This problem is
difficult to correct because the machinery used by the industry
is inherently noisy when it operates. Compacting, smashing, or
flattening vehicles' before they go to processors is another source
of noise.
The 74 establishments generated an estimated 5,422 short tons
of solid waste materials (excluding metal scrap) in 1968 (Table 12).
This is equivalent to 312 Ibs for each car processed.
Because of space limitations, storage of waste materials was a
serious problem for most dismantlers. With the exception of tires,
which dismantlers were frequently unable to dispose of, solid waste
was stored principally on or in automobile hulks. A few dismantlers
used trailers to store waste for short periods, but the weight and
volume generated required frequent trips to landfills or dumps to
clear the area.
With few exceptions, the dismantlers indicated that they did little
Separating or processing of waste materials before disposal. Most
combustible materials were usually left intact in the car, and other wastes
added to the hulk. As a general rule tires and gas tanks were removed and
stored separately. In the St. Louis area, the varying requirements of
companies serving as outlets for scrap steel determined how clean the
hulks would be for disposition. Thus, an Illinois shredder who did not
require clean hulks, except for the removal of seats and gas tanks, was
the principal outlet for dismantlers in the urban areas that prohibited
open burning, found a purchaser for their hulks in an Illinois steel
company that took only hulks which had been burned to remove nonmetallic
parts. The steel company was closer to the metropolitan area than the
shredder and also paid a better price.
Solid Waste Management. Disposal of waste materials constitutes
a serious problem and expense for the individual wrecker, and the cumulative
impact of the industry's waste materials presents a challenge to community
waste disposal facilities.
If the dismantler has the space, he may temporarily store the wastes
on the premises, which makes his yard even more of an eyesore. If
municipal or private disposal facilities are available, he can use them,
adding to his cost. Many dismantlers put the wastes in the hulks. This
reduces the dismantler's direct costs for waste disposal, but it also
reduces the price the scrap processors will pay for the hulk, since the
waste disposal has now become their burden.
14
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Methods of removing the solid waste materials from the dismantlers'
yards varied from area to area in the survey. Municipal collection
services were used by only two dismantlers; private collectors were used
to haul all or part of the waste generated by 36 dismantlers; and some
hauled their own wastes (Table 13). Still other burned or buried their
wastes or left them on or in the hulks and thus minimized waste haul.
Disposal facilities available to other commercial or industrial
activities are accessible to wreckers and include landfills, dumps,
and incinerators. More often than not, however, an area did not have
a full range of disposal facilities. Wreckers in the four areas
stated that private dumps were the most commonly used disposal
facility (Table 14). In the Amarillo and Buffalo areas, dismantlers
resorted to stuffing their hulks with wastes and giving or selling
the hulks to scrap processors. Nine dismantlers still practiced open
burning of their wastes because they were outside the jurisdiction of
local restrictive ordinances. One dismantler buried his waste material
in his own yard.
With the exception of the dismantlers in Provo, Utah, all
dismantlers disposed of their hulks. The Provo area lacked a scrap
market, so hulks were accumulating in the wrecker yards.
Of the 14 St. Louis firms that estimated their costs of waste
disposal, 11 paid an average of $380 a year to private contractors
for the service. Of the 19 firms that removed their own solid
waste (Table 14) three reported an average cost of $270 for the year.
The cost of disposing of waste materials for Amarillo wreckers was
estimated to be approximately 67.5 cents per dismantled car, or an
average cost of $147 per company per year.
The cost of waste disposal is a contributing economic factor in
the dismantler's decision concerning types of automobiles he will
accept. A dismantler who, for example, bought in 1968 a wrecked
1968 Pontiac for $1,400 looked upon a $5.75 disposal cost as
inconsequential, in view of the profit anticipated from the sale
of parts. On the other hand, a dismantler who took in a 1953 Pontiac
for nothing looked upon a $5.75 disposal cost as significant in
comparison with his acquisition and dismantling costs and also in
comparison with the revenue from the sale of parts.
15
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REFERENCES
1. 1967 Highway beautification program. Report of the Department of Commerce
(together with additional correspondence) to the United States Congress.
90th Cong., 1st Sess., Senate Document No. 6. Washington, U.S. Govern-
ment Printing Office, 1967. p.29.
2. Derrickson, G. F. Motor vehicle abandonment in U.S. urban areas.
Washington, U.S. Department of Commerce, Mar. 1967. 51 p.
3. U.S. Bureau of Mines. Automobile disposal, a national problem.
Washington, U.S. Department of the Interior, 1967. p.8.
4. 1970 Automobile facts and figures. [Detroit], Automobile Manufacturers
Association. 70 p.
5. Dean, K. C., and J. W. Sterner. Dismantling a typical junk automobile
to produce quality scrap. U.S. Bureau of Mines Report of Investigations
7350. Washington, U.S. Department of the Interior, Dec. 1969. p.7.
6. Environmental quality; the first annual report of the Council on
Environmental Quality. Transmitted to the Congress Aug. 1970.
Washington, U.S. Government Printing Office, p.108.
7. Chindgen, C. J., K. C. Dean, and J. W. Sterner. Construction and
testing of a junk auto incinerator. U.S. Bureau of Mines Technical
Progress Report 21. Washington, U.S. Department of the Interior,
Feb. 1970. 8 p.
OTHER SOURCES
Derrickson, G. F., Iron and steel scrap consumption problems. Washington,
U.S. Department of Commerce, Mar. 1966. 52 p.
Environmental quality; the second annual report of the Council on Environmental
Quality. Washington, U.S. Government Printing Office, Aug. 1971. 360 p.
How to harvest abandoned cars. Guidelines from General Motors Corporation.
National Industrial Pollution Control Council. Junk car disposal; Sub-council
report. Washington, U.S. Government Printing Office, Oct. 1970. 54 p.
Disposal of junked and abandoned motor vehicles; hearings before the
Subcommittee on Air and Water Pollution of the Committee on Public Works,
U.S. Senate, 91st Cong., 2d Sess., S.4197 and S.4204, August 19 and 26, 1970.
Washington, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1970. p.137-235
16
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APPENDIX A
METHODOLOGY
General Description. Information on the general description of the
automobile dismantling industry in the United States was voluntarily
furnished to the Bureau of Domestic Commerce by the auto dismantling industry
trade associations, which in turn received responses to questionnaires in
1968 from about 1,100 automobile dismantling companies.
Four-City Survey. The selection of the cities surveyed was made to
include industry representation from a metropolitan area in each of four
major geographical regions of the country, as defined by the U.S. Bureau of
the Census; namely, West, North Central, South, and North Eastern. Each of
these sections was further divided into Standard Metropolitan Statistical
Areas (SMSA). The SMSA's within each geographical area were listed in
descending order from the largest to the smallest. All areas larger than
St. Louis (1969 SMSA population 2,105,000) were eliminated because of their
large size and therefore possibly unique and complex situation. The SMSA's
in each geographical area were stratified into thirds by number of SMSA's
within the area (i.e., if there were 39 SMSA's within an area, each
stratified sample would contain 13 SMSA's). One SMSA was selected from each
stratum (the top third, the middle third, and the bottom third) of each
geographical area using a population-weighting method. Two conditions were
imposed upon the selection procedure: (1) No two SMSA's selected would be
from the same State; (2) no two SMSA's would be adjoining each other. If
these conditions were violated, a new random selection was made.
Using this technique and making value judgments based upon knowledge
of the auto dismantling industry in the particular areas, the following
cities were chosen for the study: West—Provo-Orem, Utah; North Central—
St. Louis, Missouri; South—Amarillo, Texas; and North East—Buffalo, New York.
For each of the cities, the firms selected for surveying included only
those whose largest proportion of business was in auto wrecking and dismantling.
Other activities of these firms included scrap processing, auto/body repair,
used cars, and scrap metal salvage.
Interviews were conducted both in person and by telephone.
A description of the cities chosen for study and sample size are
reviewed below:
1. Provo, Utah. The Provo-Orem Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area
corresponds to Utah County, which had a population of 138,000 according to
U.S. Bureau of the Census figures for 1970. Detailed information was secured
for the 10 major auto dismantling yards.
2. St. Louis, Missouri. (1970 SMSA population 2,363,000). Interviews
were held with 27 automobile dismantlers in the St. Louis metropolitan area
(about 30-35 percent of all dealers in the area). The companies surveyed were
grouped according to locations the urban area of St. Louis, Missouri, 17
respondents; the suburban area of St. Louis County, Missouri, two respondents;
the exurban (rural) area of St. Charles County, Missouri, three respondents;
and the exurban area of Madison County, Illinois, on the eastern side of the
Mississippi River, five respondents. These dismantlers had a total throughput
17
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of 10,000 cars per year, which is about two-thirds of the total throughput
in the St. Louis area.
3. Amarillo, Texas. The Amarillo SMSA consists of two counties—
Potter and Randall—with a total 1970 population of 144,000. The SMSA
is generally in the heart of the Texas Panhandle in Northwest Texas. The
City of Amarillo straddles the line between the two counties. There were
13 qualifying firms in the Amarillo SMSA, 10 of which were within the city
limits. All qualifying firms were canvassed.
4. Buffalo, New York. (1970 SMSA population 1,349,000). The study
covered all of Erie County and parts of Niagara and Chautauqua Counties
adjacent to the Buffalo, New York, area. Recommendations of 29 firms to
be canvassed were made by the New York State Auto and Truck Dismantlers'
Association (NYSATDA). Of the firms chosen by NYSATDA, only 25 were
included in the survey.
18
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APPENDIX B.
SCRAP PROCESSING EQUIPMENT
The roles of the auto wrecking and scrap processing industries within
the auto scrap recovery cycle are shown in Figure 1, The Auto Scrap Process.
At the scrap processing level several specialized kinds of equipment are
used in handling the scrap metal and solid waste generated by the auto
wrecking industry. This equipment includes scrap shredders, incinerators,
scrap balers, and shears. Auto wreckers as a rule do not operate such
equipment. However, there are firms which incorporate both auto wrecking
and scrap processing functions. Auto wreckers may operate car crushers and
flatteners or these types of equipment may be used by companies which
specialize in preparing junk cars for transport to scrap processing yards.
VEHICLE
MANUFACTURER
PUBLIC
POTJND
JUNK VEHICLES
4. £
I
. J
SALVAGE YARD
SALVAGE
PARTS
LjZVLj V C\\Ji-J ^^ r
STRIPPED HULKS
PROCESSING YARD
NON-FERROUS_
COMPONENTS
C*NON-FERROUS SCRAP PROCESSOR
PARTS REBUILDER
(> GARAGES
•* PUBLIC
f*NON-FERROUS SCRAP PROCESSOR
I
BOTHER DISPOSAL
PROCESSED STEEL
STEEL MAKER
OR
FOUNDRY
OTHER IRON AND STEEL USERS
Figure 1. The Auto Scrap Process (adapted from: Ralph Stone & Co., Inc.
Copper control in vehicular scrap. TJ.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of
Mines, 1968.)
19
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Balers. In this operation, the automotive hulk is stripped to
varying degrees of nonferrous contamination and then compressed into
a cube weighing approximately 1,200 Ibs. This is the No. 2 bundle.*
Despite the increasing impact of shredders, at present the majority
of automotive hulks are still processed with a baler. However, the
steel industry and foundries generally look upon this scrap product
with suspicion, assume that it is of low quality, and use it only in
amounts that will not adversely affect their operations.' In fact,
many large steel makers have discontinued use of No. 2 bundles altogether,
resulting in still further reduction in demand and price. Nonetheless,
the baler is still an important factor in the disposal of auto scrap.
Scrap Shredders. The shredder is capable of ripping whole
automobile bodies and frames into small-sized pieces of metal at rates
up to 120 cars per hour. When scrap from the shredder is processed
through a magnetic separation step this segregates the ferrous material
from nonferrous material. The end product is a clean, easily handled
scrap, relatively free of copper and other nonferrous contamination,
preferred to the No. 2 bundle by the steel mills and foundries, who
reflect this preference by an increasing demand and price. Many
shredders are now equipped with incinerators which burn combustible
trash, such as upholstery materials, insulation, and rubber remaining
in the Junk body. Afterburner devices attached to the incinerator
further control particulate emissions. The shredder incinerator can
help the auto wrecker cope with air pollution controls.
Shears. Sheared automotive slab is a relatively new development
in the scrap industry. The quality of the sheared automotive slab depends
basically on the thoroughness of the stripping and inspection preceding
the shear operation. The process first compresses the automotive hulk
into a rectangular scrap "log," which is approximately 2 ft by 2 ft
and up to 20 ft long. The second step consists of feeding this scrap
log into a guillotine shear which simultaneously cuts and compresses
it into predetermined lengths. The resulting sheared automotive slab
is a pillow-shaped, uniform piece of very high-density melting scrap,
easy to inspect and convey to the rail car or truck. The total time
requirement for the complete shear operation is approximately 40 to 60
man-minutes per ton of product.
Body Flatteners. The body flattener function frequently is separate
from that of the auto wrecker and scrap processor. This practical
equipment, developed to crush or flatten hulks, makes them easier to
handle and less expensive to transport than the bulky, unflattened hulk.
The flattener operation consists of three units: a hydraulic press
powered by a virtually smokeless diesel engine, a heavy-duty truck
to move the hydraulic unit, and a fork-lift truck to lift the
stripped auto hulk into the hydraulic press. The press exerts a
pressure of some 20,000 Ibs and can flatten the car body (stripped
*Bundled No. 2 Steel. Wrought iron or steel scrap, black or
galvanized, 1/8 inch and over in thickness, compressed to charging
box size and weighing not less than 75 Ibs per cubic foot. Auto
body and fender stock, burnt or hand stripped, may constitute a
maximum of 60 percent by weight. (This percent based on makeup of
auto body, chassis, driveshafts, and bumpers.) Free of all coated
material, except as found on automobiles (Institute of Scrap Iron and Steel).
20
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of radiator, tires, gas tank, motor and transmission) into a package
of scrap metal less than 12-in. thick. One such crusher is reported
to be able to flatten up to 200 stripped hulks per day, loading the
crushed hulk onto a flat-bed truck at the rate of 27 units per hour.
From 25 to 30 such flattened hulks can be transported on a flat-bed
truck to the scrap processor, in contrast to some five or six hulks of
normal size.
Industry reports a high degree of interest from local government
officials in the potential of such flatteners for ridding city streets
and public storage needs of unsightly and expensive junked, abandoned
motor vehicles. In some instances the equipment operator will offer
to process the junked vehicle free of cost to the city, deriving his
revenue from ultimate sale of the crushed hulks to the scrap processing
industry. This action makes the flattener operation competitive to
the auto wrecker. Thus, the flattener could develop into a cheap
way to clean up our streets and highways and be a very useful and
economical source of scrap supply to the shredder or other scrap
processor.
Incinerators. While open burning of junk auto bodies to prepare
the steel for the scrap cycle has been practiced for years by auto
wreckers, the smoke from the partial combustion of paint, sound deadening
materials, rubber, upholstery, wire insulation, and plastic causes many
complaints in urban communities.
Local and state abatement of open burning led to the development
of auto "incinerators" with somewhat better control over atmospheric
emissions. Several types of "incinerators" or burners for handling auto
hulks are described below. Few are in operation. Most of these devices
are incapable of meeting air pollution standards generally being adapted
in metropolitan areas, and also they have been found to be uneconomic by firms
of this size predominent in the auto dismantling industry.
Auto incinerators usually have a primary combustion chamber where
auto burning occurs. Combustion gases from the primary chamber pass
through an afterburner or other control device before discharge to the
atmosphere.
Pit incinerators equipped with afterburners and having a daily
capacity of 8 to 12 autos have been used by small scrap yards and large auto
wreckers. When the afterburners are operated at 1400 F to 1500 F
these incinerators are claimed to reduce atmospheric emissions to an
opacity level equal to No. 2 Ringelmann.*
Larger batch incinerators are usually garage incinerators
with afterburners. Daily capacity of this type of incinerator
is about 40 to 45 autos. Properly designed, maintained, and operated,
garage incinerators may control visible emissions during burning to an
opacity of less than No. 2 Ringelmann.
Continuous operation incinerators are used for capacities of
mere than 50 autos per day. Such units would be suitable for joint
use by several auto wreckers, being much too large for the average
*The Ringelmann number is a measure of smoke density. The range
is from 0- (no visible smoke) to 5 (all black smoke). Ringelmann Smoke
Chart. U.S. Bureau of Mines Information Circular 8333. Washington,
U.S. Department of the Interior, 1967. 4 p. (Revision of 1C-7718.)
21
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wrecker. Conveyors move autos through a tunnel-like combustion
chamber. Exhaust gases from combustion pass through an afterburner
or an electrostatic precipitator before discharge into the atmosphere.
A continuous flow of autos through the chamber permits orderly
preparation of autos prior to incineration to minimize processing
costs. Visible emissions from these incinerators have an opacity
equal to or less than No. 1 Ringelmann when the unit is maintained
and operated correctly. However, even the continuous tunnel incinerators
have been shut down because of excessive operating and maintenance costs,
more stringent smoke abatement action and lack of demand for use by
the scrap industry.
In view of the cost and technical problems connected with incinerator
development, it is highly unlikely that the auto wrecking industry will
develop such equipment for its use. However, as the cost of labor
for hand stripping increases and restrictions on open burning
increase, the auto wrecking industry might seriously consider the
economic advantages of joint development of incinerators fully meeting
pollution requirements which would be made available to all auto wreckers
in the area for an equitable fee. Moreover, if local or Federal
Government assistance were made available, it is possible that
incinerators for auto hulks could be economically developed. The
cost of operation would presumably be derived from fees charged for
hulk incineration.
22
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