Metal Recycling – Why Do It?

Did you know that by recycling ferrous metals namely steel and scrap iron, it’s possible to save up to 75% of the energy needed to make any products from the raw materials? While you may not be considering energy conservation per se, you might want to consider this….

• It can save you money – South Australians recycled 282,000 tonnes of commercial steel last year. That’s an equivalent household energy use saving of around 1.2 million hours!
• Energy conservation can help to lessen pollution – Think fossil fuels!
• It reduces the risk of greenhouse gasses – Again, think fossil fuels!

What’s more there are a whole load of other benefits that are indirectly associated with energy conservation. Yet people and businesses still for whatever reason choose not to recycle metals.

Here’s something you may not know about steel….

All steel is 100% recyclable. This means that it can be recycled and reused an infinite number of times without ruining the structural integrity of the material. Needless to say, you can’t get a much more eco-friendly material than this.

The good news is that there are many scrap metal recycling companies who are happy to take your metal off you. While some offer free pick-up of your scrap, others will pay you for the privilege. Also from a financial incentive you won’t have to pay land fill fees, so there really is no excuse not to recycle your scrap metals.

So what happens when the scrap goes to the recycling compound?

Many facilities accept both non-ferrous and ferrous scrap metal. Ferrous metals are compounds that contain iron, so wrought Iron, cast iron, steel and stainless steel are all ferrous metals. The combined metal is fed into gigantic crushers which break the metal into small workable pieces. Magnet separators then separate the ferrous from the non-ferrous scrap. While steel contains different alloys depending upon the grade, they are analysed chemically to determine their composition. Once this is decided they are sorted into varying types. In the final part of the process, ferrous metals are melted down for reuse in new steel or iron production.

What is it used for?

Once steel and iron is melted down it can be utilised for a wide variety of objects including metal tools, steel lintels, metal furniture, kitchen ware, decorative metal work, and probably even the computer I’m typing this on…in essence the list is endless. So the next time you go to throw away a piece of stainless steel or iron, you might want to think about the benefits of recycling and how you can do your bit to preserve the environment.

Here at Metro Steel we’re very conscious about the environment and take recycling very seriously, as such we can take your old metal products and re-manufacture them into something new. For further information on this, or any of our other products or services we offer, feel free to call us on 07 3204 1000.