What We Recycle

Metal recyclers will accept almost anything metal, but their ability to buy it does depend to some extent on if they can find a buyer for the materials. The metal recycling industry is big business globally and everyone can do their part to help the environment by recycling metals.

The manufacture of new metal products can have significantly less environmental impact if recycled metals are used in the production process.

Metal recyclers are experts in processing metals so they are able to be used in manufacturing.

The metals we recycle are grouped into two categories: Ferrous and Non Ferrous. Pricing will vary across these categories and is driven by world markets and their appetite for recyclables; prices paid by your local metal recycler will vary depending on how much processing is required to recycle the metal plus the transport costs for exporting.

Ferrous

Ferrous metals are magnetic.

End of life cars

Roofing iron & old steel cabinets

Steel beams and old steel chain and pipes

Bicycles and parts

Old fridges, freezers & washing machines (whiteware)

 

Non-Ferrous

Non-ferrous items are not magnetic.

Used beverage cans (including the pull tabs on their own if they have been removed)

Copper spouting & down pipes

Lead wheel weights

Copper pipes

Aluminium car & truck rims

Household insulated wiring cables

Car & truck batteries

 

 

Some interesting environmental statistics on recycling of metals:

When one ton of steel is recycled, 1,133 kilograms of iron ore, 288 kilograms of coal and 54 kilograms of limestone are conserved. Recycled steel uses less energy to smelt in the manufacturing process.

When using energy to recycle aluminium it is possible to create twenty tonnes of aluminium; this is the same amount of energy that will only produce one tonne of primary aluminium from bauxite that comes out of the ground.

Automotive car batteries contain a significant amount of recycled lead, 60% of new lead is manufactured from recycled batteries world wide.

Recycling copper has the same cost as smelting ore but skips the massive environmental impact of mining the ore.

Diagram courtesy of Australian Steel Stewardship Forum