Friday, January 11, 2013

Scrap Metal Disposal

After visiting Covanta and Ray's, I wanted to do more research on the disposal process of scrap metal, especially stainless steel.  Stainless steel scrap is very important to the production process.  According to the Australian Stainless Steel Development Association, 60% of stainless steel is made up of recycled content.  This includes reclaimed scrap, industrial scrap, and new raw materials.  Stainless steel is also unique because during its lifetime, it can be returned to its original state without any breakdown of its mineral components.  Also, because it can be recycled so often, its long life span makes it a high demand material.  Depending on country and demand, recyclers will import stainless steel and other scrap and send them to mills- either domestically or internationally.  Lastly, the fundamental components of stainless steel- nickel, chromium, and molybdenum- are all crucial for the production process.  This means this incorrect disposal of stainless steel can have large effects to the production process.  Since stainless has such a long lifetime, the effects of under use or production will not be seen until decades after the decrease in use.  It is very important to recycle stainless so it can be used to its full utility.  In 2004, China utilized 900,000 tons of stainless steel scrap in its 2.8 million tons of production.
http://www.assda.asn.au/technical-info/environment,-health-and-safety/recycling-of-stainless-steel-scrap 
Posted by at

2 comments:

  1. AnonymousJanuary 11, 2013 at 6:47 AM

    Joe,
    I was very interested in the Covanta Energy site as well. It was most definitely the largest facility we have visited and the tour guides were awesome in showing us the whole process of recycling. The incinerators that we saw were also very cool. Three incinerators that were 80 feet tall is unbelievable. I also did a little bit of research on stainless steel and found out that it is the most environmentally friendly steel their is. It also has the longest life span of any steel and can be recycled very easily. On a website I visited I saw that nearly 40% of stainless steel today is recycled.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousJanuary 11, 2013 at 6:59 AM

    I did not realize how much stainless steel was made of recycled content. It seems important to recycle as much of this as we can to continue this. Here is a link about the appropriate way to recycle this: http://greenliving.nationalgeographic.com/recycle-stainless-steel-aluminum-3029.html

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)