AUTOMOBILE JUNKYARDS 407 



both wasteful and costly. The use of car bodies for land fill is 

 costly, though less wasteful. 



The basic solution would appear to be one which can make use 

 of the automobiles as scrap in the production of iron and steel. Each 

 ton of scrap consumed conserves more than 3 tons of primary 

 materials. 



As you know, a good many automobiles are already used as scrap, 

 in the form of so-called No. 2 bundles. These bundles have the 

 disadvantage of containing contaminants in the form of certain non- 

 ferrous metals which make them of only limited acceptability to 

 steelmaking. If the quality and price of automobile scrap can be 

 improved, we are on the way to solving the junk car problem. 



New scrap processing methods give promise of providing a solution. 

 The strongest possibility seems to lie with shredding. In this type 

 of scrap, contaminants can be reduced to technically and econom- 

 ically feasible limits for steelmaking. Shredded scrap is used in a 

 number of electric furnaces. Today the extension of its use to other 

 types of steelmaking furnaces is evidently only a matter of economics, 

 time, and experience. 



The government's most important role in working with industry 

 for solutions to the junk car problem would seem to be in fostering 

 the greater use of automobile scrap. How can this be accomplished? 

 There are a number of things government can do. 



First, through low-interest loans or tax incentives, the govern- 

 ment could encourage the establishment of shredding plants and 

 other processing methods which will improve the quality of 

 automobile scrap. 



Second, the government can encourage research, in economical 

 methods of using more scrap in basic oxygen furnaces, in new uses, 

 and in further improvement of the quality of automotive scrap. 

 Although shredding represents a vast improvement over No. 2 bun- 

 dles and is considered to be of high quality, it may not represent 

 the final answer to the processing of automotive scrap. The 

 Interior Department is already working in this area. 



Third, the government can look into the matter of railroad 

 freight rates on scrap, to determine whether existing rates are a 

 deterrent to its economic use. 



Fourth, the government can work with industry to promote exports 

 of auto scrap. 



In the matter of auto abandonments, cooperative efforts between 

 the Federal Government and local, county, and State governments 



