Why Metal Recycling Is Important

Recycling Benefits for the Earth, the Economy, and Your Bottom Line

Why Is Metal Recycling Important?

Our economy depends heavily upon metals, but our planet only has a finite amount to offer. This makes metal recycling important to help meet demand, and it has many environmental and financial benefits as well. Waste metal recycling is efficient, cost-effective, and repeatable. It keeps metal out of landfills, creates jobs, and conserves energy and resources.

At Industrial Metal Service, we’ve been in the metal recycling business for more than two decades—our roots are in recycling. If you’re regularly producing scrap metal as part of your production process and don’t already recycle, let us provide some reasons why metal recycling is important and how you can benefit from a recycling service.

Metal Is Infinitely Recyclable

Most metals can be recycled and formed into new parts over and over without degrading their properties. Nearly any nontoxic, nonradioactive metal or alloy can be recycled, including:

Iron.
Carbon steel.
Stainless steel.
Aluminum.
Copper.
Nickel.
Titanium.
Zinc.

This means there is no need to create new metal except to meet increased demand. The recycling process can be repeated as many times as needed, even with valuable metals like aluminum and copper. Almost 75 percent of all the aluminum ever produced is still in use because of recycling. Copper recycling has been around since ancient times, and most of the copper ever mined is still in use somewhere today.

Recycling Metal Is Economical and Energy-Efficient

Recycling metal uses much less energy than extracting and refining ore—one reason why metal recycling is important in reducing energy use. Recycling waste metal is much more energy-efficient than producing virgin metal. For example, recycling aluminum requires 95 percent less energy than producing new aluminum, and copper requires 90 percent less energy.

By replacing the need to produce virgin metal, recycling preserves natural resources like coal and ore used in mining and metal production, reducing energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. Recycling metals is an environmentally beneficial activity and an easy way to show corporate responsibility.

As well as saving energy, recycling metals can save your company money. Most companies recycle because it’s cheaper to do so, allowing them to recoup some of their production costs.

A Solution to Metal Shortages

Rising demand and supply chain disruptions have led to shortages of metals and many products made from them. Recycling is a way to mitigate shortages while investing in U.S. manufacturing and strengthening our ability to make goods from beginning to end.

During the pandemic, the recycling industry helped keep America’s manufacturers producing the critical goods required for the COVID-19 response and the economic recovery. Metal recycling is important to our country’s economic security because it opens up domestic sources of materials, supports American manufacturing, and conserves valuable resources.

Using a Local Supplier for Metal Recycling

Industrial Metal Service has more than two decades of experience recycling metals for manufacturers in the San Francisco Bay Area and nationwide. In those years, we’ve built a reputation for reliability and professionalism. You can trust in our reliable pickup service, our equipment removal services, and our fair prices to ensure your scrap metal is recycled for a fair market price.

If you’re looking for a recycling provider or a source of recycled materials, contact us today. We look forward to learning about your recycling needs and setting up a plan to take care of them.

Address
260 Phelan Avenue
San Jose, CA 95112

Phone Number
(408) 294-2334