ARA States the Facts on Automotive Recycling*
The Automotive Recyclers Association (ARA) is the leading international trade association of professional automotive recyclers. ARA represents 4,500 automotive recycling facilities in the United States and fourteen other countries around the world. We proudly represent an industry dedicated to the environmentally efficient removal and reuse of automotive parts and the recycling of inoperable motor vehicles. ARA aims to further the automotive recycling industry through various services and programs to increase public awareness of the environmental benefits of automotive recycling and to foster awareness of the industry’s value as a high quality, low cost alternative for the automotive consumer.
The North American Automobile Recycling Industry by the Numbers
- Recycling vehicles in the United States and Canada provides enough steel to produce almost 13 million new vehicles annually.
- Automotive recycling in North America saves an estimated 85 million barrels of oil a year that would have been used in the manufacturing of new or replacement parts.
- Total United States and Canadian annual revenue is estimated to be $22 billion.
- Automotive recycling businesses employ more than 100,000 people in the United States.
- Total annual payroll is estimated to be $3.3 billion in the United States.
- More than three quarters of all automotive recycling companies employ 10 or fewer people.
- Automotive recyclers provide wholesale and retail customers quality parts that range from 20 to 80 percent less than comparable new parts.
- Automotive recyclers are good corporate citizens. Recyclers across the country host first responder training sessions at their facilities. These sessions provide first responders with the opportunity to learn the new procedures required to free trapped victims from car crashes.
*Most recent ARA statistical data regarding the automotive recycling industry.