Honda to Recycle Rare Earth Metals From Car Parts
First of its kind recycling process to begin this month in Japan.
Starting later this month, Honda will start extracting rare earth metals from the used batteries of its hybrid vehicles and recycling them for new-car parts. The automaker is partnering with Japan Metals & Chemicals Co. to execute the program. "The new operation will be the first in the world to extract rare earth metals as part of a mass-production process at a recycling plant," according to Honda's press release.
Eventually, the carmaker will also extract rare earth metals from other parts. All of the recycled rare earth metals will go into constructing the nickel-metal hydride batteries of its hybrid models -- the Civic Hybrid and Insight -- as well as various other Honda parts. 
I don't see very many Detroit vehicles on the road that are over 20 years old so that must mean something.
You're joking, right? Why is there a huge aftermarket business for parts, accessories, and customization for Fords, GMs and Chryslers for models from the '20s, '30s, '40s, '50s, '60s, '70s and '80s? You can even rebuild some models from the ground up with the available new parts. Can't say that for Japanese cars because none of them last long enough for any of the aftermarket companies to care about them.
Go to eBay and search for Toyotas or Hondas from '70-'79, then '80-'89 and you'll see that the list of used ones is very short. In fact, the first date range only picked up 37 Toyotas, and 33 of them were old Land Cruisers, not Toyota cars or pickups. Only came up with 2 Honda Civics for the same date range. Didn't get much better when you moved up to the '80-'89 range. You get 2-3 dozen tops. Do the same thing for GM and Ford and you get hundreds that are still on the road, not recycled into refrigerators or washing machines like the Toyotas and Hondas. I'll take an American or European car for longevity over anything from Japan and Korea which appear to have only a 10-15 year shelf-life and then their bodies disintegrate.
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