Home > Waste Management Blog > Metal Recycling – What Types Can Be Recycled?

Metal RecyclingThe wonderful thing about metal recycling is that a number of metals can be melted down and reused over and over again without losing their resilience or strength. Many of the things you purchase are made exclusively at steel mills that use nothing but scraps to make new steel. The two main materials that are used in metal recycling are aluminum and steel although there are many other scrap metals such as copper, platinum, zinc and nickel that can also be recycled. Of all the materials that are recycled each year, about 9% are metals. Metal recycling has even become an important export commodity.

  • Aluminum – The efficiency in which aluminum metal recycling takes place is amazing. It takes just 60 days for a used can to be recycled and back on a grocery shelf. Roughly half of all beverage cans are recycled each year, while unfortunately the rest make it to landfills where they will still be 500 years from now. It only takes 5% of the energy to recycle aluminum as it does to make the material from scratch. There are plenty of other sources for metal recycling including rain gutters, lawn furniture, some car components and siding.
  • Steel – Recycling steel is incredibly beneficial to our planet. It takes 2.5 tons of iron ore, 1 ton of coal and 120 pounds of limestone to produce a ton of steel. Recycling a ton of steel saves about 80% of the emissions produced as well.

If you would like to know more about metal recycling and find out how you or your business can do its part to keep various metals from going to landfills, give us a call at Best Disposal Inc. in Lexington, NC. We will be glad to go over the various items that we could be picking up for metal recycling. Let us be at your disposal!