AUTOMOBILE JUNKYARDS 413 



It is being attacked, and it is evident that the attacks are gathering 

 speed, impelled by competitive effort and voluntary cooperation. 

 We should encourage the efforts that are gaining important head- 

 way, undertaking the specific steps that we know will be of benefit 

 and avoid major diversion toward unknown or questionable trials. 



Movement is apparent and our primary need is to give it sus- 

 tained momentum with Federal and local attention, which, in 

 turn, will stimulate the efforts of all who are concerned with the 

 natural beauty of our Nation. 



Mr. ZINNER. Although natural beauty is both the theme and 

 the ultimate goal of our conference, I think to attain our objective, 

 we must face and deal with cold and hard economic facts. 



The forces that encourage the accumulation of automobiles, re- 

 frigerators, washing machines, and other mechanical devices that 

 have lost their original usefulness are primarily economic forces, as 

 other members of this panel have already stated. 



Similarly, economic forces discourage prompt reconversion of this 

 growing mountain of obsolete material to some new and usable form. 



Ideally, the normal cycle of junk disposal includes some salvaging 

 of resalable parts and utilization of the remainder by an established 

 scrap trade. 



The ugliness and blight associated with the normal disposal cycle 

 arises mainly from the length of time required to complete it. 



The auto-wrecking yards and the automobile graveyards in and 

 around our urban centers are only the most visible facets of an 

 involved industrial and essential service complex. 



The abandoned hulks accumulating in rural areas and, too often, 

 even on city streets, rarely enter the disposal cycle directly because 

 there is little economic incentive to move them to central depots. 



Projections of our population growth and our rapidly expanding 

 economy foretell that no simple scheme of fencing or planting can 

 long contain the growing volume of these discarded items. 



Accordingly, it seems apparent that long-term solutions to the 

 automobile junk blight will be accomplished only when improved 

 or new use-patterns are developed that encourage and also hasten 

 the reuse of scrap. 



At present, the rapidly changing technology of steelmaking has 

 dislocated established marketing patterns for this major class of 

 scrap. 



