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 industry in the United States provides jobs to over 100,000 people, and nearly $25 billion in revenue. The North American (US/CA) auto recycling saves 85 million oil barrels each year, and enough reclaimed steel to create 13 million new cars! That’s right, about 80% of your car can be recycled and reused in manufacturing and fabricating new vehicles. In fact, over 25 million tons of materials are reclaimed from old and discarded vehicles, and they’re one of the most widely recycled items of consumer refuse around the world!
Automotive manufacturers do their best to reduce waste wherever possible. 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.
At Atlantic’s Dealerships, we’re thrilled to be doing our part by offering our customers a wide range of vehicle types from EVs to Hybrids to typical gasoline vehicles. We recognize that there’s a need for a variety of driving styles until we’re all ready to switch over from fossil fuels. In the meantime, Hyundai and Kia are doing their part to participate in a plan for a greener future!
-
Hyundai has vowed to make all efforts to become a carbon neutral company by 2045.
-
Hyundai’s Ioniq Hybrid Blue and Hyundai Kona Electric have been named Greenest Vehicles of 2019 by the American Council for Energy-Efficient Economy.
-
Hyundai has added the use of vegan leather, eco paint, eco-fibers derived from sugarcane, and bio materials for multiple interior surfaces.
-
Hyundai has also committed to planting 30,000 trees by end of 2021 goal
-
Hyundai offers four options for non-fossil fuel vehicles: Hydrogen fuel cell, hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and fully electric, and will offer 13 alternative fuel models to choose from by end of 2022.
-
The Kia Soul EV’s uses over 50lbs of bio-plastics per vehicle, which are fabricated from cellulose and sugarcane, in 10 different pieces of its interior from door panels to seats to carpets.
-
Kia has adopted a climate friendly pledge including ECO-Friendly Car Lifecycle Management which you can learn more about here.
-
Kia is also working with SK Innovation to create eco-friendly recollection of metals like lithium from used EV Batteries.
-
Kia’s aim is to reduce waste and water consumption, and increase recycling efforts with an end goal of zero landfill contributions and zero waste incineration.
-
Kia is expanding its range of “Battery Electric Vehicles” (BEVs) and increasing the total travel mi/km range per charge, and a fast 20 minute high-speed charge time.
