Society’s increased focus on the management of limited resources and a reduction in the use of landfills has ensured that Recycling has become more and more important. Conserving natural resources reduces greenhouse gas emissions as there is less energy used when using recycled products. Using recycled scrap metal results in: less mining waste; lower use of water; lower greenhouse gas emissions and it creates more jobs than sending metal to a landfill. So Metal recycling is beneficial to the environment as well as to consumers and the economy by creating local jobs.
The Benefits of Metal Recycling
Metal Recycling is the process of taking used metals and repurposing them so they can be used to make new products. It is beneficial because it reduces the consumption of raw materials, energy use, and air and water pollution. It also produces fewer greenhouse gas emissions than manufacturing goods from virgin ore.
Scrap metals can be recycled and reused an infinite number of times, which allows the preservation of these precious limited resources. The benefits of Metal Recycling are both environmental and economic, as it is less expensive to recycle metal than it is to make new metal.
Take a look at these benefits:
- 75% energy savings
- 90% savings in virgin ore
- 86% reduction in air pollution
- 40% reduction in water use
- 76% reduction in water pollution
- 97% reduction in mining waste
- 105% reduction in consumer waste
There are savings of roughly 1,115 kg of iron ore, 625 kg of coal, and 53 kg of limestone for every ton of new steel made from scrap steel!
When scrap metals are recycled, the process conserves the earth by diminishing landfill space and conserving the surface biodiversity that is destroyed during the process of mining new raw materials from the ground. These valuable resources can be reused rather than lost, thus benefiting the environment and the consumer, turning this industry into a sustainable industry.
What Is Scrap Metal Recycling?
Scrap metal recycling is the process of taking old metal from products that are at the end of their useful life and recycling it to be used in the production of new goods. Metal can be recycled many times without experiencing any degradation of its properties. As a result, it provides raw material for new products while carrying a much lower carbon footprint and efficient use of resources. The benefits are both environmental and economic.
There are two kinds of metals: ferrous and nonferrous. Ferrous metals have some amount of iron, whereas nonferrous metal does not. It includes aluminum, copper, lead, nickel, tin, zinc, and others.
There are several steps in the scrap metal recycling process. First, the scrap metal must be collected. Metals are sorted and baled for shipment, shredded, and then melted. There is then a purification process that involves using electrolysis, powerful magnet systems, or other technologies. Once the metal is reduced to its raw stage, it can be used to make new products.
What a Metal Recycling Company Can Do
A company that specializes in metal recycling can make it easy for anyone, whether an individual or a business, to recycle old metal. Take a look at the following.
Vehicle Recycling
Old vehicles that no longer run are a huge source of scrap metal. Steel recycling companies will often purchase old cars for the metal value, and they can take them off the hands of consumers. They send out car compactors and remove the car bodies from disposal sites, auto dismantling yards, and private properties. These cars are transported to the recycling depot where the car is inspected and processed for recycling.
Domestic Services
Metal recycling companies will also recycle household metal items. When you have old refrigerators (gas free), washing machines, dryers, stoves, and more, you can recycle them so that they can be reduced back to metal. Recycling companies can drop off a bin while you clean up the old metal in your home and yard.
Site Property Services
If you have a lot of scrap metal when you clean up your site, a metal recycling company can come and collect it for you. The company will bring whatever the necessary equipment is to remove the metal, including balers, car compactors, mobile shears, magnets, or grabs. You can have your property cleared of all its metal, and it will be taken to be recycled.
When a company is able to bale or compact scrap metals, they can load four times as much of it onto the truck. This reduces the costs and allows companies to save money. They will also send in teams that are ready to reduce and recycle. It is important to work with a company that can safely and efficiently remove scrap metals, including all types of vehicles, such as crane trucks, tilt trays, low loaders, semi trailers, semi tippers, and bin trucks. No matter what type of metal you need removed, you should hire a company that can remove it efficiently and safely.
Drop Off Bins
Norstar (and other metal recycling companies) can deliver scrap metal bins so that you can fill it as it is convenient, greatly assisting job effectiveness. No matter what size or shape of bin you need, Norstar will be able to meet your requirements. The Norstar logistics team will ensure bins are dropped off and collected when you need them. Norstar collect scrap metals from many different industries for commercial clients, and we cater to domestic clients as well.
In addition, many companies offer a full scrap salvage consultation and appraisal. If you need help with your metal recycling needs, there are experts that can help develop the best plan for your circumstances.
Industrial and Commercial Services
Often, industrial clients create scrap metal as a by-product of what they do. Recycling the metal is the right thing to do, but it can take a lot of time and resources to do it in-house. You can hire a company to manage your scrap metal recycling needs for you. In fact, you can hire a company that has the capacity and logistics to respond any time of the day and help take care of your metal recycling needs. You want a company who understands the importance of adhering to strict standards of safety and efficiency.
No matter what your industrial or commercial needs are, a reliable metal recycling company can prepare custom solutions that are made for your specific business, and they will provide service at their own yard or on-site. And you can generally rely on a quick turnaround time.
Council / Transfer Station Services
Another great benefit in dealing with a top metal recycling company is experience in the industry. They will have worked all over Australia helping companies develop scrap metal service plans. They will have relationships with all of the national, state, and local organisations, governments, and waste management groups, as well as with privately owned tips and transfer stations.
When you work with a company that has this kind of expertise and experience, you can be confident that your metal recycling needs will be met every time. Whether you need mobile plant and equipment to clear a stockpile or scrap bin services, you can rely on an experienced company to help you out.
What Types of Scrap Metals Do Metal Recycling Companies Buy?
Metal that is recycled can be either ferrous or nonferrous. Ferrous metal has iron in it. It comes from the Latin word “ferrum,” which means iron. Ferrous metals include the following:
- HMS (Heavy Melting Steel): This includes most commercial or industrial scrap steel that is greater than 6 mm thick. For example, it includes plate metal, beams, columns, channels, merchant bar, farm machinery and implements, metal stampings, and offcuts.
- Car Recycling: You can recycle most car bodies with or without the wheels and interiors.
- Pressing Steel: Pressing steel includes most domestic scrap metal up to around 6 mm thick. For example, Whitegoods (refrigerators, washing machines, and other large appliances), roofing iron, hot water heaters, and sheet metal offcuts are all considered pressing steel.
- Cast iron: This includes cast iron baths, machinery, pipe, and engine blocks.
- Rail: This includes all kinds of Railway and Tramway tracks.
- Reo: This includes any kind of reinforcing bars or mesh that is used within concrete.
- Turnings: Turnings is what is left after drilling or shaping steels. It is also called Borings and Swarf.
- Manganese Steel: This type of steel is non-magnetic and hardened, and it is used in the mining industry, cement mixers, rock crushers, and other high impact and abrasive environments.
Nonferrous metals are metals other than iron and alloys that do not contain iron. These metals can also be recycled, and a metal recycling company will buy the following:
- Aluminum cans
- Aluminum cast
- Aluminum cuttings
- Domestic mixed aluminum
- Aluminum extrusion
- Aluminium (copper) radiators
- Aluminium wheels
- Batteries
- Brass
- Catalytic converters
- Domestic mixed copper
- Copper No. 1 (clean pipe, sheets, solids)
- Copper No. 2 (dirty pipe, wire, solids)
- Copper or Brass radiators
- Copper wire
- Insulated copper wire (electrical cables)
- Electric motors
- Gun metal
- Lead
- Stainless steel
- Zinc
It is important to note that there are materials that these companies will not buy. They include the following:
- Soils
- Glass
- Tyres
- Timber
- Poison
- Rubbish
- Concrete
- Asbestos
- Corrosives
- Explosives
- Gas bottles
- LPG tanks
- Liquid waste
- Green waste
- Accumulators
- Pressure vessels
- Flammable liquids
- Refrigerant gases
- Hazardous materials
- Radioactive materials
- Anything nonmetallic
Metal recycling companies work with metals, both ferrous and nonferrous. They do not work with these other substances. In fact, they will not take metal parts that have the above substances in them. However, they can help you get your scrap metal picked up and processed, and they will have the equipment and the knowledge to make it happen.
What Metal Recycling Companies Sell
Metal recycling companies also sell metals. They collect scrap metals from industrial centers, businesses, and domestic homes, and they recycle it or they ship it to companies who want to use it in a project. They will have all kinds of ferrous and nonferrous metals, and it is easy to buy them.
These metals include:
- Mixed metal scrap (aluminium, copper, zinc)
- Shredded stainless steel
- Ferrous shred
- Premium grade shred
- HMS bonus grade
- HMS ½
- Processed cast iron
- Manganese scrap
- Steel turnings
Final Words
Metals are limited resources, but they can be recycled without degrading at all. In fact, they can be recycled many times over. This converts a limited resource into a renewable resource that can be produced with lower emissions of greenhouse gases and for a lower cost. Although metals can be recycled and reused in other projects, some ore still has to be mined. The amount of metal that is recycled when products reach the end of their useful life isn’t quite enough to meet the demands of the world.
One of the biggest benefits of metal recycling is that it uses less energy. In addition, it reduces air and water pollution and lowers greenhouse gas emissions. It also reduces the impact on the earth by reusing items that would have been dumped into a landfill.
Metal recycling companies provide a range of services that focus on collection of metal waste. They can offer numerous solutions that are customised for a business or individual’s specific needs. They simplify the process by having many different bins, trucks, and other equipment available to facilitate the metal recycling process. No matter what your metal recycling needs are, a metal recycling company can provide you with the right solution.
What is scrap metal recycling?
Scrap metal recycling is the process of taking old metal from products that are at the end of their useful life and recycling it to be used in the production of new goods.
What metals do metal recycling companies sell?
They will sell ferrous and nonferrous metals including mixed metal scrap (aluminium, copper, zinc), Shredded stainless steel, Ferrous shred, Premium grade shred, HMS bonus grade, HMS ½, Processed cast iron, Manganese scrap, Steel turnings.
