From manufacturing plants to auto factories, many industries generate metal waste. Public facilities like restaurants, hospitals, and schools generate huge numbers of used aluminum food and beverage cans, which can be easily recycled. Yet, too often these materials end up in landfills.
Recyclable metal waste and scrap metal can be quite valuable, since it can be re-melted and shaped into new products. This helps reduce the need for mining for virgin ore to make new metals—an expensive and environmentally harmful process.
Browse our competitively priced metal balers and metal compactors and start generating revenue for your business from scrap metal today.
Common Recyclable Metals
Here are common metals that can help generate revenue for your business:
Aluminum
Aluminum is a light silver colored metal used in everything from car wheel rims to home siding. Most aluminum scrap exists in the form of beverage and food cans; likewise, most recycled aluminum goes back into making aluminum cans. Recycling aluminum uses just 5% of the energy required to manufacture new aluminum, creating an imperative to recycle this metal. Used aluminum can bring anywhere from $0.25 to $1 a pound, depending on the type and form.
Steel
Steel is one of the most commonly used metals in the world, and North America recycles more steel than any other metal. Like aluminum, steel can be re-melted and shaped into new products like appliances, fixtures, or structural framing again and again. Each ton of recycled steel saves approximately 2,500 pounds of iron and more than 1,000 of coal. And, recycling requires 74% less energy than producing steel from raw materials. Scrap stainless steel can draw around $0.25 a pound, while shreddable and prepared steel can bring between $110 and $150 per ton.
Copper
Copper is used in everything from insulated wire to pipes to motors and alternators. It’s a non-renewable resource, meaning it doesn’t regenerate nearly fast enough to keep up with consumption, so it’s important to recycle copper. Scrap copper can bring more than $2 a pound.
Brass
Brass is an alloy made of a combination of copper, zinc, and other metals. It’s used to make everything from keys to door handles to bathroom fixtures. In the auto industry manufacturers have started replacing heavy aluminum radiators with models made of a copper-brass alloy. Brass is a mid-level priced item at scrap yards; it can bring $1 to $1.50 a pound.
Amarillo
City in Texas
Description
Amarillo is a city in the Texas Panhandle. It’s a gateway to the vast, trail-lined Palo Duro Canyon State Park. The Cadillac Ranch is an installation of graffiti-decorated cars, partly buried in a field. With art deco and Spanish Revival buildings, the U.S. Route 66–Sixth Street Historic District is a hub for dining and antiques. The American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame & Museum is dedicated to the famous horse breed.