
Not only is it an eyesore, but it also doesn’t serve much purpose if it is only being stored. Scraps of metal consume lots of occupied space in our garages, sheds, yards, and the like. While potential profit varies, non-ferrous metals are typically worth more than ferrous metals like iron and steel.

Different metals have different values, and different businesses will offer different cashouts. As for how much you can earn - it varies. Scrap yards will gladly take aluminum, brass, copper, iron, and steel. If you need another incentive for recycling your scrap metals, doing so can make you money.

This industry offers competitive salaries for many workers while also reducing the amount of metal that ends up in landfills. Following the challenges of the past two years, it’s more important than ever that we keep offering new job opportunities to workers in the U.S. Recycling metal creates 36 times the amount of jobs than sending it to an incinerator and six times more than sending it to a landfill. and generating $236 billion on an annual basis. Creates More JobsĪccording to the National Institute of Health, some of the economic benefits of recycling metal include employing more than a million workers across the U.S. These savings can even be passed down to the consumer, who can enjoy cheaper products as no new materials were needed to create their purchase. The metal you are looking to recycle is already here, so it can simply be modified for a new purpose. The reliance on new resources is minimized, and companies can save a fortune by reducing their energy consumption. Instead of creating new products from scratch, it takes less energy to achieve the same results with scrap metal. Recycling aluminum saves 95%! That means, if you recycle your can of soda, you can help conserve enough energy to power a 60-watt light bulb for more than four hours! Different metals require different amounts of energy and resources to be produced but consider this: Recycling steel uses 60% less energy than deriving it from raw materials. Recycling metal conserves energy that would otherwise be expended in metal manufacturing processes. Using scrap metal instead of virgin ore also generates 97% less mining waste as well. Moreover, the Northeast Recycling Council reports that with recycled steel alone there is an 86% reduction in air pollution, 76% reduction in water pollution, and 40% less water used in the overall process.

Not only do greenhouse gas emissions cause harmful levels of air pollution in cities, but emissions influence climate change - considering 2020 (tied with 2016) was the warmest year to date, this is a serious issue that should not be taken lightly.īut just how much better is recycled scrap metal when it comes to the environment? The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries estimates that recycling metal may cut greenhouse gas emissions by 300 million to 500 million tons. When new metal is produced from mined ore, it releases far greater amounts of greenhouse gas emissions than if recycled metal products were used.

Recycling scrap metal touts numerous advantages, but perhaps the most significant is that it lessens the amount of greenhouse gas emissions. Freeing up space in our landfills means there is less pollution in the environment. When scrap metal is recycled it means there is less scrap metal in landfills and more space for actual waste like food and non-recyclable items. Recycling scrap metal by reusing it or selling it for reuse both have positive effects on the economy and the environment. 8 Benefits & Advantages of Recycling Scrap Metals 1. But while recycling that empty soup can or scrap from your latest project might not seem like it makes a difference - it does! Read on to learn some of the biggest benefits of recycling scrap metal. Reusing scrap metal ranges from industry use to home furnishings and even influences the world’s most famous artists.įrom soda cans to semi-trucks, each year more than 150 million tons of scrap metal is recycled in the United States alone. The benefits of recycling metal are endless for both the economy and the environment - mainly because scrap metal can be used, reused, and dispersed again and again.
