10 Ways To Help The Environment With Scrap Recycling

23mixcopperThe high value of copper has led to a lot of unwanted press across the US for the scrap recycling industry from stories covering metal theft. Before you give the industry a bad reputation, let’s consider a few of the environmental impacts of the scrap metal industry.

Did you know that 40% of the world’s raw materials is derived from recycled scrap metals? Not only does scrap metal recycling ensure that these scrap materials are made available for use, but the industry also reduces greenhouse gas emissions, air and water pollution, and saves energy.

iScrap App and scrap metal recycling can help you give back to the environment:

  1. Metal Recycling Keeps Non-Renewable Resources Out of Landfills: The average American family throws out 540 pounds of scrap metal each year that winds up in our landfills.
  2. Find Somewhere to Take Your Old Computers & Electronics: In 2007, 41.1 million desktops & laptops were discarded.  That’s over 112,000 computers discarded per day!
  3. Lower the Unemployment Rate: Compared to disposal, recycling creates 648 more jobs per for every 10,000 tons of material disposed each year.
  4. Precious Metals like Copper Can be Reused Over & Over: The U.S. provides 21% of the world’s supply of recovered copper which is melted down and reused to create new products.
  5. Conserve Energy Used in the US: In 2005, recycled Aluminum Cans saved the energy equivalent of 15 million barrels of crude oil—America’s entire gas consumption for one day. In fact, recycling saves 95% of the energy needed to produce new aluminum from raw materials.
  6. Reduce Waste, Air Pollution, and Water Pollution All at Once: The use of scrap vs. iron ore reduces mining wastes by 97%, air pollution by 86%, and water pollution by 76%.
  7. Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions: About 35% of all metals that are thrown away get recycled in the US which saved 25 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions – that’s like taking 4.5 million cars off of the road for one year.
  8. Keep Toxic Materials Out of Landfills: Electronic waste can contain more than 1,000 components, many of which are toxic, including brominated flame retardants, PVC, gases, heavy metals (lead, mercury, cadmium), and more.
  9. Recycling Helps Sustain the Environment for Future Generations: Materials are being used at an alarming rate in the US for construction and development. Americans throw away enough aluminum to rebuild the entire commercial air fleet every three months and enough steel to reconstruct Manhattan.
  10. Add More Cash in Your Pocket to Keep the Economy Going Strong: iScrapApp lets you find local scrap yards to recycle your scrap metals and e-waste. In exchange for giving back to the environment, you’ll get a stack of cold hard cash that you can use to stimulate the economy!

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Sources:
Electronics TakeBack Coalition
Recycling Means Business
Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries