News, Trends & Reports from the Automotive Recyclers Association

Mar 1, 2022 | Industry

Update from ARA’s Interchange Committee

ARA’s Interchange Committee has been hard at work identifying ways to enhance the capacity of all ARA members to sell more Recycled Original Equipment (ROE) parts that currently have no interchange or adequate description to allow integration into quotes and/or listings. 

In consultation with industry yard management systems, the Committee identified the 12 parts below as needing part numbers. Members of the Committee realize that many members currently utilize user-defined part types (dot numbers) to inventory these parts. In an effort to improve consistency within the industry, ARA is recommending member businesses utilize the part numbers below for the 12 parts. Please note that this is voluntary and up to individual businesses to decide whether or not to implement.

804        Bumper Pad

806        Hood Insulation Pad  

807        Bumper Face Bar, Front 

808        Bumper Face Bar, Rear

809        Headlight Bulb 

810        Wheel Lug Nut

811        Back Door Moulding

812        Brush Guard

813        Hood Scoop

814        Grille Moulding

815        Cabin Air Filter

848        Wheel Opening Moulding

In addition, the Committee would like to share that below are the reference part types that will be added to 88.01 release:

PT285      Front Door Latch  

PT286      Rear Door Latch

PT287      Back Door Latch

PT142      Front Door Shell

PT143      Rear Door Shell

PT144      Back Door Shell

The Committee encourages members to reach out with any interchange action requests or eBay fitment issues and will relay that feedback to the appropriate people. Please contact Committee Chair, Emily Yancey (eyancey@yanceyauto.com) or Jessica Andrews (jessica@a-r-a.org) for more information.

ToolBox® offers Auto Recycler B2B Marketing Opportunity!

Are you looking to build your business relationships with other quality automotive recyclers or to boost your company’s industry image? Here is a great opportunity to expand your reach. The Auto Recyclers ToolBox® now offers regionally-driven advertising from professional auto recyclers to market and grow their B2B sales. There are four regions, and your company can be in as many regions as you want to reach. The ToolBox® reaches most of the industry, which provides a comprehensive way to get exposure with your participation in the NEW “Recycler to Recycler” section dedicated solely to business-to-business connections between automotive recyclers. This opportunity is available only to automotive recyclers. Email Toolboxads@a-r-a.org for details!

WELCOME NEW AND RETURNING MEMBERS

Alan’s Auto Parts

American & Import Auto Recyclers

Auto Tech of LA, Inc.

Beltsville Auto Recyclers

Beltway Used Auto Parts, LLC

Bretz Auto Salvage & Sales

Chuck’s Used Auto Parts, Inc.

Communications Consultants

of Colorado

Cox Auto Parts, Inc.

Doug’s Auto Recycling

E & Y Auto Parts

Eastside Auto Recycling, Inc.

G-Cor Automotive

Jim DeFreece Auto Recyclers

Lacero Solutions

Maryland Auto & Truck Recyclers Assn. (MATRA)

Midwest Auto Used Auto Parts

Oak Leaf Auto Salvage, LLC

Partsmart, Inc.

Perfect Price LLC

Retriev Technologies

St. Croix Auto Parts, Inc.

Superduty Truck Parts, LLC

Tom’s Auto Salvage

Traynors Ltd

Tri-City Auto Parts, Inc.

Redwood Materials Creates First Pathways for End-of-Life Electric Vehicles; Kicks Off in California

Redwood Materials is creating a circular supply chain for electric vehicles, making them more sustainable and driving down the cost of batteries. Redwood is launching a recycling program in California to help establish efficient, safe and effective recovery pathways for end-of-life hybrid and electric vehicle battery packs.   

California has always been a leader in the transition to electric transportation and isn’t slowing down: the state plans to have five million zero-emission vehicles on the road by 2030 and, by 2035, all new cars and passenger trucks sold in the state will be electric. Their goal is to better understand the pathways and future value of battery packs, how that might evolve as more hybrid and electric vehicles reach end of life, identify any barriers that might exist, and ultimately how to create the most effective and sustainable recovery pathways for end-of-life battery packs before millions of EVs start coming off the road. A key component of this pilot will include working closely with California-based auto dismantlers.  

They will accept ALL lithium-ion and nickel metal hydride (NiMH) batteries and have created a simple process to find and recover these packs. Dismantlers can fill out a form on Redwood’s website about their battery packs and our logistics team can schedule a pick-up.  Find the battery identification form at https://www.redwoodmaterials.com/recyclewithus.

Please contact recycle@redwoodmaterials.com with any further questions about the program.  

They are excited about the start of this program, sharing their learnings as they develop processes, and look forward to working together with the industry to create pathways today for the auto industry of tomorrow.

ARA and California Auto Dismantlers Recyclers Alliance Submits Comments to California Lithium-ion Car Battery Recycling Advisory Group

In late February, ARA and affiliate chapter member CADRA submitted comments to California’s Lithium-ion Car Battery Recycling Advisory Group (Advisory Group) to assist in the development of policy recommendations that support the reuse and recycling of electric vehicle batteries. In 2018, the California State Legislature passed Assembly Bill 2832 which established a Lithium-ion Car Battery Recycling Advisory Group for the purpose of developing policy recommendations “aimed at ensuring that as close to 100 percent [of] possible lithium-ion vehicle batteries in the state are reused or recycled at end-of-life in a safe and cost-effective manner. As part of the Advisory Group’s knowledge-building period throughout 2019-2020, ARA was invited by the Advisory Group to give a presentation on electric vehicle dismantling.

In its comments, ARA and CADRA made the case that automotive recyclers need to have the widest possible avenue to put electric vehicles and their batteries to their highest and best use. While lithium-ion battery powered electric vehicles are only a small percentage of the total vehicle fleet in California and nationwide, as electric vehicles become a larger percentage of the total vehicle fleet, automotive recyclers will become the largest collective owners of end-of-life electric vehicles and lithium-ion batteries. Therefore, like for internal combustion engine vehicles, automotive recyclers will be a key party within the electric vehicle and lithium-ion battery lifecycle and will be a primary facilitator for the reuse, repurposing, and recycling of lithium-ion batteries.

In the absence of a formalized training program provided by vehicle manufacturers, ARA has endeavored to collect safety information to create a training program that is freely accessible to the industry. ARA and its Certification Committee have been helping automotive recyclers learn more about processing EVs through the publication of training modules and an Electric and Hybrid Vehicle Technology Training Guide. ARA has also developed and provides to the membership an EV Readiness Checklist, Hybrid and Electric High Voltage Vehicle Handling and Dismantling Protocol, and an EV Battery Data Base. The EV Battery Data Base contains access to information for 1650 models from 65 manufacturers specific to over 7,700 different high-voltage batteries. These resources were all referenced for the Working Group in Association comments.

ARA’s resources on EV processing are designed to help recyclers learn about electric and hybrid vehicles and the issues and safety risks associated with processing them. ARA’s Electric and Hybrid Vehicle Technology Guide does not replace the need for proper training and does not serve as a substitute for needing to acquire manufacturers’ information prior to carrying out EV processing. In addition to resources developed by the auto recycling industry, vehicle manufacturers and battery manufacturers will have to support lithium-ion battery reuse and recycling efforts through transparent data practices. ARA encourages manufacturers and other stakeholders to contribute to this training and certification program that provides necessary information for the proper handling and storage of these batteries. 

NSVRP Open Safety Recall Portal Added to ARA Website

ARA is pleased to announce that the open recall tool first made available to the industry in 2019 through The National Salvage Vehicle Reporting Program (NSVRP) is now fully integrated into the ARA website. The open recall tool allows recyclers to query the NSVRP database in real time to check for automotive manufacturer safety recalls. This service will be provided free of charge to ARA members and located inside the Member Portal on the ARA website. Simply login using your ARA member credentials and you will see the image below as well as information on how to use the portal.

ARA believes that the NSVRP tool is a good solution for automotive recyclers based upon the information available and the challenges facing the industry to keep up with automotive safety recalls. With the NSVRP tool, recyclers have the ability to check for recalls during routine, full-inventory spot checks as well as prior to purchasing vehicles. ARA encourages members to continue to implement and refine operational procedures within their business to check for automotive recalls and to contact individual management systems for details about NSVRP integration.

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