What happens to an end-to-life vehicle?
An end-of-life vehicle goes through quite a process: being dropped off, dismantled, shredded and the materials are then separated into potential new usage streams.

Chain partners
ARN works with more than two hundred chain partners who ensure sustainable recycling of scrap cars and batteries. The law prescribes that at least 95% of the car weight is recycled or recovered. In practice, that percentage even exceeds 98%.
Car dismantling
Once all the usable parts and the batteries have been removed, the shell is sent to a shredder company for further processing. ARN arranges transport from the car-dismantling company, ensuring compliance with the applicable environmental regulations.
Shredder en PST company
When the end-of-life vehicle shell arrives at an ARN-affiliated shredder company, it is shredded into small pieces of metal and residual materials. Recovered metals, such as copper, iron and aluminium, are passed on for use in the metalworking industry.
Fluids
During the dismantling process, fluids are removed from the end-of-life vehicle in an environmentally friendly manner. These fluids include oil, engine coolant, windshield-washer detergent, power-steering fluid and brake fluid. These fluids are recycled by a specialised ARN partner, such as GS-Recycling. In this particular processing plant, which is just across the border in Germany, the oil is refined into a base oil from which lubricants, for example, can be produced.
Automotive tyres
Automotive tyres are removed from end-of-life vehicles by the car-dismantling company, or breaker’s yards as they were sometimes known. If the tyres are still good, they are sold on for reuse. If not, they enter a specialised recycling process. They are taken to a tyre-storage container at the dismantling company. Then, as soon as this container is full, ARN arranges its collection by a company called Renewi.

Glass
Car windows from end-of-life vehicles are also separated for recycling. The windows can be removed manually by the car-dismantling company.
Afterwards, with the help of ARN, they are sent to a recycling company, such as glass processor Maltha, which makes new glass products from them.
Batteries
The rapid increase in electric and hybrid cars is resulting in more and more discarded car batteries.
Importers are mandatorily obliged to collect and recycle these batteries, but they have the option of outsourcing this responsibility to ARN.
Special regulations apply to the processing of batteries. For more information, see the section on batteries.
