1. Records come first
Colorado requires businesses that buy and salvage vehicles to keep records of who sold the vehicle, and recyclers in some cases run the VIN through the state's stolen-vehicle verification system and hold the car before recycling it (C.R.S. 42-4-2202). Federally, junk and salvage yards report the vehicles they take in to the National Motor Vehicle Title Information System (28 CFR 25.56), so a crushed car's VIN does not quietly come back on another car. Colorado also treats a vehicle that has been destroyed or dismantled as "junk," which cannot be titled again (C.R.S. 42-6-102).
2. Fluids and refrigerant come out
Before a car is crushed or shredded, the liquids are drained: fuel, engine oil, transmission fluid, coolant, brake fluid, and washer fluid. Used oil and coolant can be recycled. Air-conditioning refrigerant has its own federal rule. Under EPA regulations, refrigerant has to be recovered from a vehicle's A/C system before final disposal, or the disposal facility has to have documentation that it already was (40 CFR 82.155; see also EPA's vehicle A/C pages).
3. Batteries, tires, and the hazardous bits
Lead-acid batteries are among the most recycled products there are. Tires are pulled and sent to tire recyclers or processors. Responsible recyclers also deal with items like older mercury-containing switches and airbag modules rather than sending them through a shredder.
4. Usable parts may be recovered
Depending on the car and where it goes, a dismantler may pull parts that still have life in them: engines, transmissions, body panels, alternators, and so on. The catalytic converter is recycled for the metals inside it. Denver Car Recycling buys the whole vehicle; we do not run a retail parts counter.
5. The shell is crushed and shredded
What is left is flattened for transport and fed through a shredder. Magnets pull out steel and iron, and other separation steps recover aluminum, copper, and other metals. That metal goes back into new products. The leftover mix of plastic, foam, glass, and fabric is called shredder residue.
What you should do before it leaves
Take your things, your plates, and your toll transponder out of the car. Our pickup checklist covers the usual misses. More on how we handle car recycling in Denver.