New EV-dismantling facility helps SYNETIQ to enhance sustainable motoring solutions 24.02.2021: Multimillion-pound investment to prepare Winsford site ahead of peak future EV/Hybrid green parts demand; optimises EV reuse and green parts supply Growing year-on-year requirement for EV processing

    Multimillion-pound investment to prepare Winsford site ahead of peak future EV/Hybrid green parts demand; optimises EV reuse and green parts supply


    Growing year-on-year requirement for EV processing


    SYNETIQ figures reveal ‘UK’s most crashed car’, Toyota Prius, is most popular electric or hybrid model for dismantling




A multimillion-pound investment by SYNETIQ, Britain’s largest integrated salvage and recycling company, will ready its Winsford site into the UK’s first facility with dedicated EV and Hybrid dismantling capability. The investment will provide EV-specific equipment such as depollution ramps and quarantine areas for the handling of compromised battery packs at the facility, which is already manned by extensively EV-trained specialists.



“We have seen a steady year-on-year rise in the number of electric and hybrid vehicles brought in for end-of-life processing; as the race for reduced emissions intensifies and these vehicles become both older and more commonplace, demand for their associated green parts will continue to increase,” explains Tom Rumboll, CEO of SYNETIQ.



“Technologies and manufacturing techniques will continue to evolve, but the need to reuse and recycle vehicles will remain. Now is the perfect time to invest in our ability to efficiently process EVs and prepare for increased future demand.”



Figures released by the company mirror the growing popularity of EVs and results of external studies. According to data from GoCompare, the Toyota Prius is the UK’s most accident-prone car, being involved in 111 incidents for every 10,000 examples on the road. This correlates directly with SYNETIQ’s data; since 2015 the Mk2 Prius has been both SYNETIQ’s most frequently processed hybrid and most popular green parts donor vehicle.



Battery packs are currently the most popular – and highest value – component reused from EVs and Hybrids by SYNETIQ. “The emergence of advanced powertrain technologies, operating high voltage systems and posing EV-specific risks such as thermal runaway, has altered best practice for the way they are treated, handled and stored,” states Rumboll.



“Vehicle end-of-life consideration has the potential to provide significant emissions savings that complement gains in reducing exhaust gases; adapting our Winsford site is the first step in ensuring an efficient dismantling process that helps reduce the cost of keeping EVs on the road for longer,” he concludes.



“By utilising the four Rs approach of Reduce, Reuse, Remanufacture and Recycle, SYNETIQ operates a fully integrated approach to ensuring that, where possible, vehicles are kept in life and, when they can’t be put back on the road, their parts are compliantly dismantled to maximise reuse and minimise environmental impact.”




Matt Sanger - photos Synetiq