The widely subscribed Cash for Clunkers program resulted in a unique conundrum for auto parts recyclers – what to do with all those trade-ins. Most used cars that are traded in and scrapped have thousands of dollars worth of salvageable parts – form the drive train, to the engine and transmission and other parts. However, the cars and trucks that were traded in as part of the Cash for Clunkers program come with some strings attached.

Perhaps most confounding is the stipulation that Cash for Clunkers trade-ins must be completely disabled. The philosophy is that by taking supposedly fuel inefficient engines off the road, it would promote newer, more gas efficient engines. Salvaged motors that could have been reconditioned into quality used engines for sale are instead drained of their oil and pumped full of sodium silicate, a mixture of salt and sand. The process effectively destroys all the moving parts in the engine,  rendering it useless.

Some auto recyclers are claiming that this is not in the true spirit of recycling and conservation. Jeff Cantor, an auto recycler in Candia, N.H., told Associated Press, “True recycling is using something to its fullest potential and then recycling it over again by making it into steel and sending it out to become another engine or transmission or car.”  Cantor pointed out that many scrappers that typically produce rebuilt engines for sale are now “breaking that circle here by crushing good quality parts.”

Part of this has to do with another stipulation for Cash for Clunkers motors – they must be disposed of within six months of the trade-in. The rationale is sound – it would prevent dealers from taking in the government subsidized clunkers and turning them around to sell as used motors. But the logistics of dispensing of so many used autos  has proved to be far more arduous.

According to Associated Press, consumers bought 700,000 new vehicles in July and August through Cash for Clunkers, which led to auto recycling facilities to be swamped with two or three times as many vehicles than the usual load. Many auto recyclers don’t have the time to go through the usual process of stripping out valuable parts, such as alternators, front and rear axles, starts, used motors and used transmissions, and then flattening the remaining parts for scrap. The tight deadline has galvanized scrappers to crush useable parts for scrap as well. Many auto yards believe a six month extension is well in order.