Simple Steps to Follow When Recycling Scrap Metal

Posted on: 15 April 2020

Share  

Metal products surround our daily lives. Metals are the raw material in the making of various products, from simple pots to machines like cars. That leads to the production of a lot of metal waste. You likely have metal waste taking up space in your garage and yard. All these scrap metals can be recycled. The main benefit of recycling metals is that one can use them over and over without changing their properties. If you wish to recycle scrap metal, follow these simple steps.

Collect

The first step is to collect any scrap metal around you. All you need to do is go around your house and collect any metal materials. These can be in the backyard or garage or even inside your home. Various people and businesses have scrap yards. These yards encourage individuals to collect any metal products. Once dropping them off, they pay for the collection. The yards pay varying prices for different types of metals. The money they pay also depends on the amount of scrap metal someone has collected. When collecting scrap metal, you should also ensure that all containers are empty. 

Sort the Metal Types

The next step after scrap metal collection is sorting them out. You need to sort the metals based on type. Metal comes in two types. These are the ferrous and non-ferrous metals. Ferrous metals are made from a combination of carbon and iron. The common types of ferrous metals are wrought iron and carbon steel. But non-ferrous metals include copper, aluminium and tin. Precious metals also belong to the non-ferrous metals group. You should know how to distinguish ferrous metals from non-ferrous ones. One way of separating the metals is by using a magnet. Non-ferrous metals cannot stick to a magnet. They are also rust-resistant. Thus, non-ferrous metals likely do not contain any rust.

Go to the Expert

After collecting and sorting the scrap metal, you will need to take it to the scrap metal companies. Do your research before dropping off the metal waste. Ensure the company uses green methods in recycling the metals. They should also follow the government guidelines on dealing with scrap metal. Professionals companies should be willing to explain their recycling process. That will assure you that they are using all the right recycling procedures.

Conclusion

Scrap metal recycling offers many benefits. One of them is that you can make money from the process. Recycling of metal also helps in environmental conservation. Follow the steps in the article to ensure you are doing things right. You also need to practice caution when recycling scrap metal.

To learn more about scrap metal recycling, contact a company in your area like Sydney Metal Traders.