URG Announces Results of a University of Colorado Study Quantifying the Benefits...

URG Announces Results of a University of Colorado Study Quantifying the
Benefits of Automotive Reuse and Recycling

CENTENNIAL, Colo., Sept. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- The world's airliners could fly
nearly 100 million miles with the energy saved each year by reusing steel
fenders instead of manufacturing them new, says a new study prepared for the
United Recyclers Group (URG) by the University of Colorado (CU). The study
quantifies the benefits of automotive reuse and recycling by the nation's
automotive recycling industry. The study specifically looked at reusing some
common parts such as fenders and aluminum wheels, along with the reprocessing
of motor oil extracted from 'end-of-life' (EOL) vehicles.

According to Michelle Alexander, URG Executive Director, "The CU study
estimates that nearly 11 million vehicles are taken off the road in America
each year when they reach their so called 'End of Life' (EOL). This process of
attrition is caused by accidents and also occurs as vehicles age. There are
tremendous quantifiable environmental and financial benefits for consumers
that are provided by the green American automobile recycling industry as these
vehicles are processed both for the reuse of certain parts (known as 'green
parts') and recycling of most of the remainder."

A big question remains: What to do with 11 million EOL vehicles each year?
Richard Filley, Executive Director of the not-for-profit GreenCARR Foundation
(www.greencarr.org) says that "America's 6,000 plus auto recyclers, know
exactly what to do and they have been doing it proudly and profitably for over
a hundred years. With leadership from URG and the Automotive Recyclers
Association (ARA), two not-for-profit trade organizations collectively
representing over 2000 of the nation's top automotive salvage companies, what
could be a huge problem for this nation - dealing with a literal mountain of
cars - is instead a huge asset to America's efforts to go green."

Michelle Alexander says that "Thanks to our auto recycling industry, the
brakes are being tapped on climate change; energy consumption is being
reduced; less material is being mined, refined and used; many forms of
pollution are lowered; and the carbon footprint for the whole auto industry is
being reduced."

The study was launched when Alexander contacted Dr. Angela Bielefeldt, PE, an
award-winning professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering at the University
of Colorado, Boulder (CU). Dr. Bielefeldt's successes in incorporating
service-learning projects into her senior level design capstone course, won
her a prestigious 'Early Career Award' from the American Society for
Engineering Education (ASEE). The study was completed by a team of senior
environmental engineering students comprised of Patrick Gere (lead), Tyler
Sale, and Madeline Tyson.

John Fischl, president of Riteway Auto Parts (Phoenix, AZ), and a URG Manager
says that "For a typical EOL vehicle, about 75% of the parts are salvaged for
reuse, about 20% of the vehicle is recycled, and the remaining 5% is thrown
away." What that means, he adds is that an "EOL vehicle is one of the
greenest products on the planet. Through the reuse of 'green parts,' vehicles
may partly live on for years and years, at great environmental benefit to
Planet Earth and important financial benefit to the consumer driving a vehicle
needing repair parts.

Some highlights of the study's major findings include the following:
-- The recycling of steel fenders each year in the United States saves
the
mining of over 5 million tons of iron ore, nearly 3 million tons of
coal, and over 250,000 tons of limestone as compared to the
manufacture
of an equivalent number of new steel fenders.

-- The smelting of aluminum is very energy intensive, so it is no
surprise
that even more spectacular are the savings associated with the
recycling
of aluminum wheels. The study estimates that over 1.71 billion
kilowatt
hours of energy are saved annually when the aluminum needed to make
enough wheel sets isn't mined, isn't smelted, and isn't
manufactured. The energy savings from not having to manufacture
aluminum wheels alone would be enough to power Chattanooga, Tennessee
or
Panama City, Florida or the entire Big Island of Hawaii for an entire
year. Another way to think about this is that the energy savings of
the
recycled aluminum are the equivalent of about 212 million gallons of
gasoline, or over 11 million barrels of crude oil. This would fill up
six oil supertankers, and equal the entire US output of oil (including
offshore platforms) for a couple of days, or perhaps more importantly,
keep America from needing to import oil from a place like Venezuela
for
11 days.

End of Life vehicles are typically full of oil when they arrive at one of the
automotive salvage facilities located across America for processing. The
study estimates that over 24 million gallons of oil are extracted from EOL
vehicles each year in the United States, under the strict regulatory oversight
of federal, state and local environmental agencies and offices. Reprocessing
motor oil is hugely beneficial to the environment, as compared to the process
of exploring, drilling, and refining new oil. Over 3.1 million tons of CO2
emissions are saved in the process, an amount that could offset the entire CO2
output of the United States for 45 hours this year.

These statistics document the benefits and savings from just three part types
from the vehicles that are taken out of service every year. The full benefit
of recycling and reuse of the entire vehicle will provide much greater savings
and environmental benefits than this preliminary study has revealed. An
executive summary of the CU study is available on the URG website.

URG has taken the lead in creating new awareness and understanding of the
modern green automotive recycling industry, including the preparation of the
PowerPoint presentation, "Green, Lean, and Sustainable: The New Era of
Automotive Recycling." URG: Working together to improve and modernize the
green automotive recycling industry. For more information, go to the United
Recyclers Group website at www.u-r-g.com or call 303-367-4391.

For over 60 years the Automotive Recyclers Association (ARA) has represented
an industry dedicated to the efficient removal and reuse of automotive parts,
and the safe disposal of inoperable motor vehicles. ARA is the only trade
association serving the automotive recycling industry in 12 countries
internationally. For more information, go to the Automotive Recyclers
Association website at www.a-r-a.org or call 888-385-1005.

United Recyclers Group (URG)
Contact: Michelle Alexander
Phone: 303-367-4391
Fax: 303-367-4409
E-mail: michelle@u-r-g.com
Website: www.u-r-g.com

SOURCE United Recyclers Group

Michelle Alexander of United Recyclers Group, +1-303-367-4391, fax,
+1-303-367-4409, michelle@u-r-g.com