Metals Recycling Information
Metal recycling is one of the largest recycling industries within the UK, worth approximately £4.5 billion. The actual manufacturing of metals is one of the largest UK manufacturing sectors in the UK. The industry contributes more value to the UK economy and provides more employment than the aerospace and motor industries combined. Increased demand from China and India have influenced the growth in export markets. The result of this is that recycled metals have a substantial monetary value; hence scrap metal is rarely discarded or sent to landfill.Metal recycling plays a massive role in making sure that material is recycled from a wide range of sources, and contributes more than any other recycling sector to national targets for the prevention of waste through recovery of 'end of life' products. Over 8,000 people are employed in this industry in the UK; worldwide over 400 million tonnes of metal is recycled every year. 2005 saw 13 million tonnes of metal being recycled in the UK. Around 40% of this was used in the UK; the other 60% was exported worldwide, as the UK produces more scrap than is actually required for domestic markets. The UK is one of the five biggest metal scrap exporting countries in the world.
Facts about Recycling Metals:-
Scrap metal is divided into two types - ferrous and non ferrous. Ferrous is scrap iron and steel, which includes old cars, steel beams, railroad tracks, household appliances, ships, food packaging and other containers. Non ferrous scrap metal is everything other than iron and steel. Examples of this type include aluminium, such as foil and cans, nickel, cobalt, chromium, copper, lead, zinc and precious metals. There is less of this non ferrous scrap than of ferrous and it is generally more valuable. Processors recover many millions of tonnes of non ferrous material and it is consumed by secondary smelters, refiners, ingot makers, fabricators and foundries to name just a few.
End-of-life vehicles provide the main source of material; from lorries, cars and buses. Over 75% of a car is metal and around half of the material processed by metal recycling shredders comes from vehicles. The market price has remained at a high level for several years now and the result of this has been a reduction in the number of abandoned vehicles on our streets, as processors have aimed to capitalise on the vehicle value.
Packaging - 2 billion aluminium and steel cans are recycled every year.
Steel Packaging - In 2003 44% of all steel packaging including steel cans were recycled, but 9 billion cans are still going to landfill, despite the high price being paid for steel.
Aluminium Packaging - In the UK 75% of all canned drinks sold are packaged in aluminium. This material is recycled into new aluminium cans, and the process usually takes 6-8 weeks. The lightness of the material makes it a popular choice for cans and the number for recycling keeps on increasing, which is good news.
Aluminium Foil - made from different alloys to aluminium cans and it has to be collected separately. Most recycled foil goes to cast components for the motor industry, including engine blocks and cylinder heads.
Other Metals - Brass, silver, gold and copper tend not to go to landfill as they hold a value which makes them worthwhile collecting.
WEEE - Most discarded household appliances are already being recycled by the industry. The electronics and telecommunications industries consume a considerable amount of non ferrous metals.