Retire your ride, breathe easier

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This article was published 25/07/2010 (5732 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A national program to get old, emissions-heavy cars off the road has sent more than 3,300 beaters in Manitoba into retirement over the past year and a half, a number far exceeding expectations, the local co-ordinator says.

"We certainly felt like the year was extremely successful," said Kate Letkemann, who manages the local Retire Your Ride program through the Manitoba Lung Association.

The federal government launched Retire Your Ride in early 2009 with the aim of getting 50,000 older, over-polluting vehicles off the road per year. The program offers $300 in cash incentives to people willing to take their vehicles off the road, provided they were made in 1995 or earlier. Cars must be insured, driveable and have been on the road in the six previous months.

Late in 2009, automotive manufacturers Hyundai, Chrysler, GM and Ford announced their own boosts to the Canadian program, with discounts in the hundreds or low thousands on new vehicles for people who retired their old ones, on top of the federal incentive.

Recent statistics show the federal program has taken in nearly 90,000 vehicles across the country since it began, more than half of them from Ontario and Quebec combined.

A vehicle made in 1995 pollutes an average of 19 times more than a 2004 or newer vehicle, said Letkemann.

"The main focus is smog-producing emissions we’re trying to control," she said.

Letkemann said there were no formal targets for the program on a local level, but said the Manitoba office had hoped to bring in 1,500 vehicles in the first year. They wound up with more than 2,500.

Retire Your Ride was preceded in Manitoba by the Bye Bye Beaters program, also run through the local lung association. The difference was that although Bye Bye Beaters could offer things like vouchers for bike purchases, there were no cash rewards, said Letkemann. That program took in a little more than 900 vehicles during five years of operation.

Retire Your Ride works with four recyclers in Manitoba, all of whom have passed an audit certifying their practices, said Letkemann.

About 75 per cent of a vehicle can be recycled, though all non-recyclable parts are disposed of safely, she said.

Shawn Hnatuik fields some of the retired vehicles at Metalz in Motion, a company he launched a little over a year ago.

Every part of a car gets recycled or sent away for safe handling, said Hnatuik, from the coolants, oils and other liquids that get drained from the vehicle to the many metal parts that are shredded into tiny pieces and eventually processed into steel.

Letkemann said she hopes the lung association can continue taking in old cars for recycling after Retire Your Ride ends, but isn’t certain what the program would look like or if there would still be cash incentives.

lindsey.wiebe@freepress.mb.ca

What are my reward options?

 

Turn in your 1995-or-earlier vehicle in Manitoba and choose from a list of rewards, including:

— A cheque for $300

— A $350 to $490 discount on a high-end commuter bicycle, as well as up to 15% off parts and services.

— Five free monthly Winnipeg Transit bus passes within a year of the vehicle donation.

— Twelve consecutive Winnipeg Transit bus passes for $40 per month.

— Twelve free consecutive monthly City of Brandon monthly bus passes.

— A variety of discounts — ranging from $500 to $3,000 — from auto manufacturers on the purchase of a new vehicle.

Source: Recycle Your Ride

 

Where does my vehicle go?

Each recycled vehicle goes through a process designed to maximize the materials that can be reclaimed and minimize the environmental impact, including:

Oils: Drained, tested and reused for energy recovery in licensed used-oil furnaces to heat their buildings.

Anti-freeze, washer fluid, refrigerants: Reprocessed, reused or sold to licensed buyers.

Fuel: Used by the auto recyclers in their own equipment or sold for reuse.

Mercury switches: Sent for mercury recovery and storage.

Gas tanks, batteries and tires are also removed and recycled, reused or disposed of appropriately.

Tires: Quality tires with lots of tread life are sold for reuse. Others are processed as tire crumb to make new products or to pave highways.

Wheels: Sold for reuse, reconditioned or reclaimed as scrap metal.

Everything else: Crushed and shredded into fist-sized pieces for recovery. Any valuable metals are separated and reused to make new cars and other consumer products.

Source: Recycle Your Ride