Scrap metals: How they are reused to make new products?

Scrap metals which are generated abundantly from modern consumerism tend to be dumped in landfills or discarded away. Scrap metals may have toxic chemicals and hazardous elements in them so it is imperative to keep them away from landfills by recycling them where there is a danger of those metalspercolating into the environment which could cause soil pollution. Thus scrap metals must be used so that they don’t end up polluting the environment.

Aside from the environmental factor, reusing scrap metals such as copper, aluminium, brass, steel, and iron has economic benefits. It drastically reduces manufacturing costs as recycled metals can be used over and over again leading to a ‘circular economy'.

Some of the areas where reusing scrap metals can be effective are as follows:

1. Manufacturing: As mentioned before,  scrap metals helps to significantly reduce the cost of raw materials for the manufacturing plants. But other than that, the  scrap metals can be used to produce different alloys afterthe melting process..

2. Construction: From roads, bridges to buildings materials, reusable and production surplus scrap metals are used in a variety of ways in the construction industry. Scrap metals like iron, stainless steel and aluminium are used on a common  basis.

3. Packaging: Steel and aluminium are typically used for new food packaging. Canned items usually consist of certain out amount of recycled scrap metal with few being manufactured  entirely of scrap metal.

4. House furnishing: A typical house presents a lot of avenues for scrap metals to be reused. Appliances, lighting, metal roofing, etc., gets manufactured  using alloys that are tcomposed of scrap metals. Furniture like lamps, chairs, tables etc. all, are containing alloys that are composed of recycled metals owing to their durability.

5. Transportation: The bodies of ships, aircraft, and automobiles among others are the modes of transportation, manufactured using alloys produced from recycled scrap metals.

Thus, we can see that recycled scrap metals find a variety of applications and thus they must be recycled to conserve the environment as well as make manufacturing cost-effective. Scrap metals have a lower boiling point than virgin ore and thus can be easily melted and land would not be dug up to extract non-renewable metal ores which up the risk of environmental pollution.

Effects of Not Recycling

The fact that recycling is one of the most important issues in recent times needs no introduction. Also UAE passed an ambitious law in 2018 to recycle 75% of the waste generated by the country (Gulf News, New UAE federal law aims at 75% of waste recycling), which highlights the importance of recycling with combined efforts around the world to recycle human waste suffocating the environment.

This article is not about the importance of recycling, rather it talks about what would be the results of not recycling. That is, let the landfills fester with ever voluminous mounds of trash. What will be the effects of not recycling that?

The world is already reeling from an unimaginable turnover of waste. According to the World Bank, the global volume of waste is set to increase by 70 percent by 2050. (World Bank, Global Waste to Grow by 70 Percent by 2050 Unless Urgent Action is Taken: World Bank Report)

The developed countries generate the maximum amount of the world's waste with the US being one of the biggest. An estimated 254 million tonnes of waste gets generated by the USA per annum (Environmental Protection Agency or EPA). The UAE being the highest waste generator in the Gulf region, generating an estimated 6.5million tonnes of waste and is one of the world's highest in terms of per capita waste production.(Gulf Business, UAE seeks end to status as one of world’s largest waste producers)

The effects of not recycling can be categorised broadly into two categories: environmental and economic.

1.                  Environmental

First, let’s talk about plastic. Recent reports around the world of the presence of plastic in the bowels of aquatic creatures especially an infamous one have raised alarm over the problem that the accumulation of plastic waste poses. According to a World Bank report, 242 million tonnes of plastic waste was produced globally which constituted 12 percent of the total solid waste generated worldwide (World Bank, Global Waste to Grow by 70 Percent by 2050 Unless Urgent Action is Taken: World Bank Report).

Scrap metal, easily recyclable, when not recycled puts pressure on landfills and serves to increase the toxicity of the environment.

Glass can be recycled ad infinitum thus saving cost as well as lessening water pollution.

If recycling is not done (and not done properly), there are environmental costs to bear globally.

2.                  Economic

There are significant economic implications of not recycling in addition to the obvious environmental effects.

In 2017, the global recycling industry generated an estimated $265.61 billion (975.64 billion dirhams) of revenue. The global plastic recycling industry alone was estimated to have a market size of an estimated $37.6 billion (138.1 billion dirhams).(Cision, Global Waste Recycling Market Outlook Report 2017-2018: $37.6 Billion Opportunities in Plastic Recycling)

Revenue generated leads to more jobs. In the US alone, tens of thousands of people work in the recycling sector. If recycling is stopped, these people along with thousands of others around the world will lose their jobs.

Recycling also helps to reduce prices on many items such as glass and some types of metal. Since the material is recycled every time, manufacturing costs are cut drastically in half. The effect of not recycling would not only put immense pressure on already depleting finite resources but would also make prices inflate for a lot of materials.

Thus, to conclude, the impact of not recycling has a tremendous cost, both environmentally and economically and would only clog the various spheres of the planet with unmanageable clutter, both hazardous and non-hazardous. Therefore, in a world of fast depleting resources, recycling is the need of the hour.

How To Properly Care For Brass

 Although brass has an attractive colouring and is versatile, it is more malleable than many other metals.  It is important to take care of your brass bars the moment you receive them because of its malleable nature.

This makes brass prone to easy damage and hence should be handled carefully. Therefore, on receiving a delivery of brass machining bars, you should immediately check the packaging to ensure that each bar is coated with plastic. You have to also make sure that the packaging and palates are not damp, as this can often cause staining. Moreover any damage to the packaging can easily travel through to the metal inside.  Brass should be ideally kept indoors, in positions higher than the ground level.

While handling brass bars, you have to be careful that they do not bang or scrape against each other in order to prevent the surface from denting. To minimise the possibility of corrosion, it is necessary to prevent the brass bars from coming in contact with ammonia based products or ammonia itself. In case of contact, the brass will be rendered useless as it will develop stress corrosion cracking.

Using mild detergent mixed with warm water to clear the surface dirt regularly will preserve the brand new look of your brass material. Refrain from using abrasive cleaners as that may result in removing the lacquer coating on the brass which is done to prevent tarnishing.