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Benefits of Recycling Metal
You and other consumers and corporations manufacture, use and discard
millions of tons of metal every year, which goes into everything from small
beverage cans to giant vehicles.
Approximately 150 million tons of scrap metal was recycled in
2008, according to the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, which comprises
40 percent of the world's available metal used for manufacturing.
Recycling such metal has several direct benefits for the United
States and the world in general.
Environmental Benefits
Recycling metal has numerous benefits for the environment.
Compared with making products from recycled metal, the production
of new metal from mined ore releases far greater amounts of greenhouse gas
emissions.
These emissions may influence climate change and may also cause
harmful levels of air pollution in cities, resulting in potential respiratory
health problems for you and other residents.
The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries reports that recycling
metal may cut greenhouse gas emissions by 300 million to 500 million tons.
In addition, using scrap metal in lieu of virgin ore generates 97
percent less mining waste and uses 40 percent less water, according to the
National Institutes of Health.
Energy Conservation
Recycling metal conserves energy that would otherwise be expended
in drilling ore, refining the metal and other processes of the metal
manufacturing process.
Energy conservation levels vary according to the product type. For
example, the National Institutes of Health say recycling aluminum uses 95
percent less energy than deriving it from raw materials, while recycling steel
saves 60 percent.
Put into more personal terms, if you recycle a single aluminum
beverage can, you help conserve enough energy to power a 60-watt light bulb for
more than four hours, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Ore Conservation
A limited amount of metal ore is in the planet.
Recycling reduces the amount of virgin ore needed to be mined by
providing manufacturers with a source of already-mined metal.
The City of San Diego Environmental Services Department says
recycling a pound of aluminum saves 4 lbs. of bauxite ore while recycling steel
conserves 1.25 lbs. of ore.
Economic Benefits
Recycling metal creates 36 times more jobs than sending the same
amount of metal waste to the incinerator, and six times more than sending the
metal to a landfill, according to the National Institutes of Health.
National Recycling Coalition: The National Recycling Coalition
says the recycling industry in general generates $236 billion annually and
employs more than a million workers across America.
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