Why Is It Important to Recycle Scrap Metal?

Many of us are aware of the importance of recycling materials like paper, glass and plastic, but what about scrap metal? Scrap metal is a material that you might not encounter much in your day to day life, unless you work in an industry like manufacturing or construction.

Scrap metal is a combination of waste metal, metallic material and any product containing metal that is capable of being recycled. Scrap metal might seem like waste to many people, but there are many valuable reasons to recycle it. If you want to know more about why it’s important to recycle scrap metal and the benefits gained, see below for our brief guide.

It helps the environment

Recycling scrap metal reduces the amount of waste sent to landfill, which then reduces the amount of harmful greenhouse gases released into the air. This reduction in pollution is beneficial to the environment and recycling just one tonne of aluminium can prevent nine tonnes of CO2 from being released into the air.

Preserves raw materials

A huge amount of energy is needed to source new metal and the process releases further harmful greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Recycling scrap metal helps to preserve raw materials and save the energy needed to extract them. Metal can be recycled as many times as needed and the amount of energy saved can be up to 92% for aluminium, 90% for copper and 56% for steel



Economic benefits

Recycling metal can help you cut down on production costs, as it’s much cheaper to recycle materials rather than sourcing new ones. Scrap metal can be used in construction or manufacturing to make new products and the process can benefit the economy by creating new jobs. The UK recycling industry was valued at £21.2 billion in 2020 and it’s only expected to grow!

Looking for scrap metal recycling in Bridgend? Get in touch with the team at Broughshire Waste Metals. With over 28 years’ experience in the industry, we’re fully qualified to recycle a variety of materials, including ferrous and non-ferrous metals, stainless steel, aluminium, copper and brass. For more information about our scrap metal recycling or general recycling services, give us a call today or contact us online.