The '91 Ford Explorer you turned in for a $4,500 downpayment on a new vehicle is headed for its last ride—to the shredder. The federal government's "Cash for Clunkers" incentive program is now history, but the work of taking apart the cars and trucks and turning them into shredded scrap is far from over.

Most of the gas guzzlers went to auto dismantlers or recycling yards, but a few made their way directly from auto dealers' lots to a shredder. In fact, the first members of the unwanted vehicle fleet have already been ripped apart and delivered to steel mills, and are now probably new steel products—perhaps even a fender or hood on a new auto, according to Bobby Triesch, vice president of ferrous operations at Newell Recycling of Atlanta Inc., the southern scrap processor that operates shredders in the region.

"Back when the program started, some of our marketing people went out and contacted auto dealers directly when the logical step would have been car dealer, auto salvager, then shredder. . . . We were able to gets hundreds of 'Cash for Clunkers' (vehicles) because we were the first to act," Triesch said.

Newell's yards didn't "part them out"—that is, they didn't strip off easily removable parts like mirrors and windows for resale to auto repair shops and "shade tree" mechanics. "They are probably already new steel," Triesch said. "Things don't last long here. We shred it and it goes out the next day."

The government-generated feedstock for shredders largely dried up when pull-a-part auto recyclers "got their act together" and started making a stronger push to buy the clunkers from auto dealers, although Newell is still getting a few vehicles from dealers. Triesch estimated that his yards received...