How Exactly Does Scrap Metal Recycling Work

Metals are seldom purchased by ordinary people, despite their importance in our daily lives. However, suppose you have unwanted scrap metal. In that case, you may bring it to a reputable recycler like GLE Scrap Metal, which has spent years processing and recycling all essential and precious metals.

Metal recycling has several phases if you’ve ever sold waste to a scrap metal recycling company and wondered what happened to it, or if you’re wondering about the complete process.

First, consider that metals may be recycled in two ways: ferrous and non-ferrous.


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Carbon steel, alloy steel, cast iron, and wrought iron are ferrous metals.

The first is Collection. The next phase is sorting, separating metals from mixed scrap metal or mixed waste streams. Magnets and sensors are employed in automated recycling to sort recyclables.
After that, metals are shredded. These shredded metals have a high surface-to-volume ratio and can be melted with less energy than mining for ore.

Now, metal scrap is melted in a giant furnace, and each metal is transferred to a separate furnace. Depending on the furnace’s size, melting might take minutes or hours.

The following is purification, which ensures the finished product is free of impurities. Electrolysis is a popular purifying process. It uses direct current to induce a non-spontaneous chemical reaction.

After purification comes solidification, the conveyor belt cools the melting metals. At this step, scrap metal is shaped into particular forms that may be utilized to manufacture various metal goods.

After cooling and solidifying, the metals are ready to be shipped to manufacturing companies as raw materials for new products. To know more about scrap metal recycling companies, stay connected.

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