The basic ideal behind the disposal concept

At the beginning of the 1990s, increasing environmental contamination as a result of all kinds of pollutants and the public debate that grew up around this sensitised the population to an unprecedented degree. Since then, the general public has had a keen interest in environmental protection, in possibilities for reducing environmental pollution and in environmentally acceptable behaviour.

As polluter, the automotive industry has been placed increasingly under the spotlight. The various topics under discussion have included ecological reports examining the consumption of both energy and raw materials during vehicle manufacture, the large volume of waste that occurs during the service life of a vehicle and as part of maintenance and service work, energy consumption during operation and the associated emission of pollutants and, finally, the problematic treatment of shredder light fraction at the end of a vehicle’s service life.

At the end of the 1980s, the members of the board of the Vehicle Guild of Aurich/East Frisia recognised that an environmentally friendly treatment of all material flows that occur during the operation of a vehicle can only be achieved in collaboration with all those involved. Automotive operations were expected to lead the way since this is where the waste materials occur. By merging many of the region’s automotive operations, it has been possible to guarantee the economical and cost-effective, but nevertheless high quality and environmentally friendly, collection and recycling of many waste materials requiring special supervision, such as waste oils, brake fluid, coolant, oil filters and the contents of separators.


Economic advantages can be achieved by optimising logistics and by grouping together the various waste volumes. A central collection and sorting system for solid waste, such as glass, old batteries, tyres, waste metals and plastics, means that recycling and environmental protection can be achieved in an economically efficient manner. Ideally, the salvage vehicle adds to the material mix since its individual components are identical to the waste disposed of in the workshop. In addition, the merger of the automotive industry with central environmental control offers not only economic advantages but also disposal in accordance with regulations, the safe handling of waste materials, safe disposal, a technological advantage and a boost to the industry’s image.