Metals can be reused repeatedly without changing their properties. Steel metal is among the best recycled metal. Other widely recycled metals that are used for Scrap Metal Recycling are aluminum, copper, brass, and lead.
Why Do We Recycle Metals?
Metals are valuable and durable materials which can be reused and again without losing their properties. Scrap metal is valued and encourages individuals to gather it for recycling purposes.
Alongside financial incentives in addition to a financial incentive, there is an environmental aspect. Recycling metals allows us to save natural resources, while using less energy as opposed to the production of new products made from virgin raw materials. Recycling releases lower levels of carbon dioxide, as well as harmful gasses. In addition, it saves manufacturers money and allows them to cut down on their production costs and recycling can also lead to jobs.
Quick Metal Recycling Facts
While nearly every type of metal is recyclable over and over again with no loss of its properties, in the year 2018 just 34% of the metal used that was disposed of was recycled.
Here are some additional details:
- In the year 2019, 490.98 million (32%) of the 1,532.51 million tones of steel that was produced globally was produced by recycling materials.
- About 69% of the steel used that was produced in 2019 was composed from recycled materials.
- Around 2.2 million tones of steel containers and other waste packaging made of steel were produced in the year 2018.
- Iron and steel are among the most recycled metals worldwide because of the potential to reuse huge structures and the ease of recycling. Magnets are used to sort the process and allows recyclers to distinguish them from mixed waste streams.
- Today, the most recycled containers are aluminum containers in Australia.
- Recycling just one aluminum can help save enough energy to power a 100-watt light bulb for more than four hours.
Types of Metals Recycled
Metals can be classified into ferrous or non-ferrous. Ferrous metals are a combination of carbon and iron. The most common ferrous metals are carbon steel, alloy steel cast iron, and wrought iron.
However, non-ferrous metals include aluminum copper zinc, lead and Tin. Precious metals are not ferrous. The most popular precious metals are gold, platinum silver, iridium and palladium.
The Metal Recycling Process
The major steps in the process of recycling metal are as the following:
Collection
The process of collecting metals is different than for other materials due to the more valuable scrap value. Therefore, it is more likely to be offered to scrap yards rather than going to landfill. The biggest source of scrap in Australia is Botany Scrap Metal.
It also includes massive railway tracks, steel constructions, farm equipment, ships and, of course scrap from consumers. Prompt scrap, generated during the manufacturing of new products.
Sorting
Sorting is the process of separating materials from the scrap stream, or the multi-material mixed waste stream. In automated recycling Magnets and sensors are employed to aid in separation of the materials.
At the level of business, scrappers could use magnets and look at the color of the metal or weight to determine the type of metal. For instance, aluminum is likely to be light and silver. Other important colors to search for are yellow, copper and red for brass. Scrappers increase their value scrap by separating clean metal from filthy material.
Processing
In order to allow further processing, the metals are cut into pieces. Shredding is used to speed up melting as the smaller sized metals with the largest surface area in volume.
This means that they are able to be melted with much less energy. Typically, aluminum is transformed into smaller sheets and then transformed into blocks of steel.
Melting
Metal scrap is melted in a massive furnace. Each metal is then taken to a particular furnace that is made to melt that specific metal. A significant volume of electricity is utilized during this process.
As mentioned previously the energy needed to melt and recycle metals is smaller than that which is required to create metals from raw materials. Based on the dimensions of the furnace, the temperature of the furnace, as well as the amount of the metal, melting may be as quick as a couple of minutes to several hours.
Purification
Purification is a process to make sure that the final product is of the highest quality and is free from contaminants. A very commonly used method of purification is electrolysis.
Solidifying
After purification, the melted metals are transported by the conveyor belts to cool and then solidify the metals. At this point the scrap metals are shaped into specific shapes, such as bars that are easily utilized to make different metal products.
Transportation of the Metal Bars
After the metals have been cooled and solidified, they’re ready for use. They are then taken to different factories, where they are utilized as raw materials for the creation of new and original products. If the products made from the metal bars reach the expiration point The process of recycling metal repeats itself.
Conclusion
If you have Scrap Metal objects you don’t know what you should use, you’re in the right place since here at Botany Scrap Metal. We provide recycled scrap within Australia. This is a viable method of getting rid of undesirable metal items, while being eco-friendly. We all know that scrap metal recycling is among the most eco-friendly for the environment.