The day comes when your car (which has been clunking along on its last legs wheels for what seems like forever) reaches the end of the road, leaving you with memories of all the roads you traveled together through storms and sunshine — and a whole bunch of metals and parts. When the time comes to say your final goodbye to Old Rusty, what do you do? Read on and then decide. End-of-life vehicles like Old Rusty have been a global problem for years. In the U.S. alone, 10 to 11 million vehicles reach the end of their lives and are taken off the road every year, but what happens once they are taken off the road varies. Although there has been plenty of talk by various governments on the subject of vehicle disposal procedures, little action has been taken. There is currently no legislation governing the management of end-of-life vehicles in Canada or the U.S. So, you don’t have to recycle Old Rusty, but what you could do is at least consider the following.

• 80% of your old vehicle can be recycled.
• 42% of all new steel in this country comes from recycled metal.
• Using recycled metal saves energy consumption by up to 74% and water consumption by 40%. It also reduces air pollution by about 86% and water pollution by 76%.

Recycling your old car is great for many reasons, but buyer beware. Many facilities claim to recycle vehicles and dispose of waste in environmentally friendly ways. But many do not first de-pollute the vehicles. De-pollution involves draining all fluids and removing the battery and tires for proper and safe disposal. Auto recyclers that don’t de-pollute vehicles prior to shredding them are essentially putting gas, oil, battery fluids and rubber into our environment. The impact of this can be severe. If 1 liter of engine oil finds its way into a water source, 1 million liters of water will be contaminated. Likewise, engine oil poured directly onto the ground will affect soil fertility, which can be detrimental to our food sources. When disposed of in landfill sites, large volumes of tires may cause instability. They often rise to the surface, therefore affecting long-term settlement of the site and the future use and possibility of reclamation. Since tires are made up of organic materials with unknown long-term effects, allowing these chemicals to seep into the soil and pollute the atmosphere presents potential health risks to both humans and wildlife. These risks associated with improper de-pollution are so significant. Every effort needs to be made to ensure every vehicle is handled appropriately. That is why GreenVehicleDisposal.com only accredits those facilities that first de-pollute their vehicles. GreenVehicleDisposal.com ensures that your car is taken to an authorized treatment facility where it will be de-polluted, dismantled and recycled properly. The choice is yours. Visit greenvehicledisposal.com/member-search/ and search for your nearest approved green vehicle disposal site. Jay Granofsky has been involved with digital marketing and writing for the past decade. He is a well-respected and active member of many online communities, including DigitalPoint and Sitepoint forums. Currently, Granofsky is the Search Marketing and Social Media Manager for GreenVehicleDisposal.com, a North American auto-recycling network focusing on charitable giving and green initiatives. If you care about reducing CO₂ emissions, please check out Granofsky’s most recent project, carbonIQtest.com.