There is no way those cars are going to the landfill- junk cars have significant economic value when sold for scrap (a couple hundred bucks usually). If the cars are recent models, stripping the valuable parts first makes them worth even more.

I cannot fathom them not recycling the steel. I work next to a Chiacago expressway which was ripped down and replaced. They took the time to remove the rebar from the concrete and put it in separate trucks. They used this cool tracked vehicle with a crushing jaw on the end of the arm. I presume that it was being sent for recycling. They even took the old concrete to a small plant next to the highway where it was broken up and used for fill somewhere.

From what I understand, the steel industry goes hand-in-hand with oil and automotive industries.. Steel/metals manufacturers are usually owned by automotive companies (or vice versa), and as such they are not concerned about recycling old cars but creating new ones they can sell for 150% profit. Recycled vehicles make a profit, yes, but not as much as a brand-spanking new car.

The automotive/metal industry leaves the collection of scrap metal to trash & scrap metal collectors, who go around collecting the scrap metal and deliver it right to the door of the metal manufacturer, which saves the manufacturer the cost of finding, picking up, and delivering the scrap. This way, the manufacturer saves big-time on operating costs, and doesn't have to concern themselves with vehicular waste..

The way the big spin-doctoring metal/automotive companies see it, by NOT putting in place an efficient system to collect and recycle the huge masses of automotive waste they create, they are benefitting society by creating more, uh, jobs for entrepreneurs (trash and scrap metal collectors).

Nice, huh?

Lily-

I know of no metal comanies owned by auto manufacturers. On the contrary to your conspiracy theory, metal manufacturers make MORE profit by recycling steel and aluminum, because melting it down is cheaper than pulling ore out of the ground and refining it. The finished product sells for the same price either way. That is why there are people willing to pay you for your non-running car. In fact, you can call just about any tow truck operator in the country, and they will gladly come and take away your junker for free, because they can tow it down to the recycling yard and make a quick $200.

That is precisely why there is absolutely no way that 300,000 flood damaged cars will end up in a landfill. Resourceful people will take them and turn them into money by recycling them. That is at least $60,000,000 right there, even if you don't strip any parts.

Scott,

I appreciate where you're coming from, however I just finished merging a large American metal company with a Canadian automotive/aerospace company (I'm an accountant, I merged the financial records). The metal company itself is owned by a pharmaceutical company, which is then owned by one of the world's largest research and development firms, which also has ties to NASA, and several military units, including but not limited to the US, Asia, and the Middle East. The research and development firm in question, which is the Big Daddy of hundreds of smaller companies officially or NOT officially connected to it, is involved in everything from nanotechnology to obesity studies to agriculture, to raw materials to computer technology to plumbing fixtures, you name it. Basically, this r&d company has its finger in everything.

Not a conspiracy theory, I saw - and processed - the raw data myself.

Why do metal companies own automotive and aerospace companies? Because then they can sell metal from the metal company to the automotive/aero company at whatever price they choose, depending on how the Board of Directors wants the financials to look like at the end of the year. Meaning, they create their own little circular monopoly with their own products. This is a very common business practice, though generally it is a significant conflict of interest when the companies in question are public companies with shareholders. However, in my experience, conflict of interest doesn't stop these companies from using these kinds of (basically) fraudulent practices. Actually, this sort of thing is so common, in my experience with the 60-odd companies I've worked with, that I consider it an accounting norm.

You said:

"That is why there are people willing to pay you for your non-running car. In fact, you can call just about any tow truck operator in the country, and they will gladly come and take away your junker for free, because they can tow it down to the recycling yard and make a quick $200."

Yes, I agree. Tow truck operators bring it to the scrap metal dump, who in turn bring the scrap metal back to the automotive/steel companies. But virtually no automotive or metal company does the work directly, themselves. They leave it up to the trash collectors to bring it to them.