Once a car has reached the end of the road, so to speak, its life continues beyond the scrapyard through recycling. In Finland, up to 95 per cent of its materials can be reused. Steel parts are made into pots and pans while tyres end up as crumb rubber at sports stadiums.
The recycling of cars is regulated through an EU directive, which specifies that, by 2015, 95 per cent of the weight of a scrap car must be utilised and reclaimed.
Finland already reached this target in 2010. Only an average of 50 kilograms of a 1000 kilogram car ends up at the landfill, says Managing Director of Suomen Autokierrätys Oy Arto Silvennoinen.

Finland has come far

Suomen Autokierrätys has close to 280 reception points for scrap cars throughout Finland. For car owners, the service is free and has been made as simple as possible. One of the larger operators is Kuusakoski Oy.
— First off we remove any liquids, batteries and tyres from the car as well as any recyclable spare parts. After crushing, we separate the steel, iron, rubber, plastic, textiles and non-ferrous metals, explains Director Risto Pohjanpalo.
— Tyre materials are used for, among other things, civil engineering in the foundations of roads and parking lots and as crumb rubber in the astroturf at football stadiums. New steel products, such as pots and pans are manufactured from the steel. There is plenty of work for copper smelters too, Pohjanpalo adds.
According to him, Finland has come a long way. The goal is a challenging one and achieving those last few percentages will be hard work. There are still improvements to be made in the raw material utilisation of plastic parts and in the recovery of glass.

Pots made from scrap cars

In just over ten years, Hackman, specialised in cookware, has collected more than half a million kilograms of recycled material in the form of old pots and pans through its recycling campaign aimed at consumers. The raw material in the pots and pans can be recovered almost entirely through recycling.
— The proportion of recycled material in our cookware products is, on average, 70 per cent. The recycled steel comes from our campaign as well as from various industries, such as the automotive industry. Information on the proportion of recycled material is printed on each product’s packaging, says kitchen products PR Specialist Laura Syrjälä.

— The volume of recycled material has been maximised, taking into account the quality requirements of the product. We have received good feedback from consumers. Any measures that make a product more eco-friendly and encourage consumers to recycle are always welcome.

Source:
February, 2014
http://www.goodnewsfinland.com/archive/themes/recycling/addb0430/