by Introduction
Metal recycling is the process of recovering scrap metal from end-of-life products and reuse it in the production of new metal products. Metals like steel, aluminum, copper, lead and tin can be recycled indefinitely without much loss of their quality. Recycling helps in reducing the usage of raw materials and provides numerous environmental benefits. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, metal recycling reduces air pollution and water pollution, conserves natural resources and saves land from being used as landfills.
Benefits of Metal Recycling
Energy Savings: Recycled Metal requires significantly lower energy than extracting and processing raw materials. For instance, recycling aluminum cans uses only 5% of the energy required to produce aluminum from the raw material bauxite. Making products from recycled steel requires 60-74% less energy compared to primary production from iron ore. Recycling 1 ton of steel conserves approximately 1,140 kilograms of iron ore, 630 kilograms of coal and 55 kilograms of limestone. Thus, metal recycling leads to huge energy savings.
Reduced Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Producing metals from Recycled Metal content generates fewer greenhouse gas emissions compared to metals made from virgin ores. The steel industry estimates that for every ton of steel that is recycled, approximately 1.1 tons of iron ore, 0.6 tons of coal and 0.05 tons of limestone is conserved. This leads to avoidance of 1.4 tons of CO2 emissions per ton of recycled steel. Similarly, recycling aluminum saves 95% of greenhouse gas emissions compared to primary aluminum production.
Conservation of Natural Resources: Metal recycling helps conserve natural resources which are required for extraction and mining of metals like copper, aluminum and iron. It reduces the need to exploit natural resources and mine new deposits from the earth when existing metal supplies can be recovered from post-consumer applications. For example, recycling one ton of aluminum cans conserves bauxite reserves equivalent to 2 tons and also conserves water since the production of primary aluminum is a water-intensive process.
Reduced Landfills: Discarded metal products can often last for hundreds of years without deterioration if left in a landfill. Recycling metal reduces the volume of materials going into landfills. With increasing urbanization and consumption, landfill space is becoming scarce. Metal recycling ensures that landfill spaces are preserved for non-recyclable waste materials while metal scraps are sent for recycling instead of landfilling.
Economic Benefits: Collecting, sorting and recycling metal scrap generates green jobs in the recycling industry. It promotes a circular economy where waste metal becomes a valuable resource. Metal recycling industries depend on the availability of scrap metal collected domestically. Recycled metal costs less than primary metal production. So metal recycling provides significant cost savings for metal manufacturing and fabricating industries which use recycled metal as raw material.
Current Scenario of Global Metal Recycling
Metal recycling is one of the largest recycling industries globally. According to the World Steel Association, nearly 1.6 billion tons of steel was produced worldwide in 2019, out of which approximately 278 million tons was produced using steel scrap as raw material. This accounted for around 17% of total steel production relying on recycled content.
Among various metals, steel has the highest recycling rate globally. According to Eurostat, the recycling rate of steel in the European Union was estimated at 86% in 2016 which is almost close to its theoretical recycling potential. Aluminum also has a very high global recycling rate of around 73% according to the International Aluminum Institute. This is due to the fact that recycling aluminum requires only 5% of the energy needed to produce primary aluminum and offers huge cost savings for aluminum industries.
Copper recycling rate stands at around 32% globally with further scope for improvement according to the International Copper Association. Zinc and lead have recycling rates of 73% and 75% respectively. Tin and nickel though recycled in smaller volumes also have recycling rates over 50%. The overall metal recycling rate including all metallic scrap varies between 35-48% across countries according to United Nations Environment Program estimates.
Recycling Infrastructure and Future Outlook
To further boost metal recycling rates, nations need to focus on strengthening collection infrastructure, sorting and segregation facilities near scrap sources. Setting up decentralize material recovery facilities, buy-back centres near urban and industrial settlements can promote easier collection of segregated scrap metals. Investments in advanced sorting technologies like eddy current separators, magnetic separators are crucial to recover mixed recyclable scrap efficiently.
Financial incentives in the form of tax benefits for recycled metal industries and import duties on primary metals can encourage greater use of cost-effective scrap alternatives. Stringent recycling targets for steel, aluminum and other metals need to be adopted jointly by nations. Sustainable consumption practices promoting minimal wastage and design of products with end-of-life recycling in mind require a push. With growing population and consumption, metal recycling presents one of the most viable solutions to address dual challenges of resource security and climate change. If channelized properly through right policy interventions, metal recycling holds immense potential for a sustainable circular future.
*Note:
1. Source: Coherent Market Insights, Public sources, Desk research
2. We have leveraged AI tools to mine information and compile it
About Author:
Money Singh is a seasoned content writer with over four years of experience in the market research sector. Her expertise spans various industries, including food and beverages, biotechnology, chemical and materials, defense and aerospace, consumer goods, etc. (https://www.linkedin.com/in/money-singh-590844163)
