In recent years, recycling has become a vital activity and the focus is not just for individuals and households, but, for businesses as well. Recycling is necessary to becoming environmentally friendly and supporting the planet to stay clean and healthy. From a financial perspective, recycling contributes to a better financial position by cutting expenses and helping utilize non-renewable resources more efficiently.
How Does Scrap Metal Get Recycled
When you think about recycling, you usually think of plastic bottles, cardboard, and aluminum cans. However, larger waste can also be recycled – like appliances, filing cabinets, vehicles, and much more. Ferrous metals, which are made of iron and steel, and non-ferrous metals, which are made of every other type of metal, can both be recycled! An easy way to tell the difference between the two categories of metals is by testing them to see if they’re magnetic. If the item is magnetic, it’s ferrous; if not, it’s non-ferrous. Ferrous metals are compacted and shipped to steel mills and foundries. Non-ferrous metals include aluminum- and copper-based alloys. These materials are non-magnetic, corrosion-resistant, and—most importantly, for separation purposes, heavier. While both types of metals can be recycled, they generally sell for different prices when you scrap them.
Scrap Metal Recycling Process
The first step in the scrap metal recycling process is sorting the metals into each different type of metal: aluminum, steel, copper, etc. Next, the metals are compressed together to save space in the scrapyard, and then they are crushed and shredded into small pieces. Then the metals are melted down in a large furnace. This process takes several hours but is made shorter by shredding the metals beforehand. No properties are lost during this process and the end result is a cheaper output than if the metal was obtained and extracted from the raw materials coming out of mines. Melting metals also reduces the carbon footprint and allows more effective utilization of these non-renewable resources.
The molten metal is then checked for impurities to ensure that there is only one type of metal in the batch. Finally, the metal is re-solidified and is ready to use for all kinds of products like appliances, building materials, food packaging, furniture, and more!
Metals, from a recycling perspective, have two big benefits going for them. First, in comparison to the commonly recycled materials of paper and plastics, metals have the highest end value in terms of dollar price. Second, metals are highly reusable and are able to be turned from one item into another. Steel for example is completely recyclable, and actually takes its place as the most recycled material in the world, even above plastics. These factors combined make scrap recycling very attractive, delivering benefits to the environment and adding a profitable extra income for your business.
Why Should You Recycle Scrap Metals
The scrap metal recycling industry stimulates the economy and creates more jobs than sending the same amount of metal waste to the incinerator or to a landfill. It consumes a lot less energy as well as being more efficient than actually extracting and refining raw materials through traditional mining processes. Mining has a number of environmental processes such as environmental hazards, poisonous runoffs, and groundwater pollution that can create physical scars on the environment. These scars can take hundreds of years to heal, causing groundwater pollution, habitat destruction, and unstable geological conditions. Mining and processing of new metal release a much larger amount of greenhouse gas emissions as compared to recycling metals. These emissions tend to influence climate change in a negative way as well as causing harmful air pollution, which can lead to respiratory health problems. Recycling scrap metal requires fossil fuel inputs as well and is regarded as less energy-intensive than mining and does not cause physical scars on the environment. Recycling plants don’t need massive open-pit mines to function.
A Few Scrap Metal Recycling Facts
•The most recycled item in the world is the aluminum can
•Recycling one aluminum can will save enough energy to power a lightbulb for 4 hours
•One ton of steel recycled saves enough energy to power 18 million homes for a year
Where Should you Go For Your Scrap Metal Recycle Needs
To the Pros! Carolina Metals Group has many years of experience in Scrap Metal Recycling. We specialize in purchasing scrap metal from the general public as well as commercial and industrial customers. We are able to offer competitive pricing and an unmatched service experience.