Among the various precious metals, copper is one of those rare metals that are 100% recyclable. Hence, it’s no surprise that the rate of copper recycling is more than that of any other metal in the market. There are plenty of economic benefits to recycling copper as its value is roughly about 85% to 95% of that of a newly mined ore. But apart from these financial benefits, recycling copper is also crucial from an environmental standpoint. 

To elaborate further, here are the top three advantages of copper recycling:

Reduces Toxic Gases 

The copper refining process releases harmful gases and dust into the atmosphere. Conversely, copper recycling decreases the emissions associated with smelting and other refining processes. In fact, according to some statistics, recycling copper scrap results in energy savings of about 85%, as manufacturing new copper exhausts a lot of resources. Moreover, the solid waste produced by the smelting process is also eradicated, further decreasing the need for waste disposal.

Reduces Landfill Space

Using landfills to dispose of waster products is a common and often detrimental practice followed by multiple industries. Thus, optimal copper recycling can save a huge amount of space that would otherwise be required for a landfill. And copper is used in virtually every product, from very small electronic devices to huge household appliances, generating plenty of scrap wire. The wastage of such a humongous amount of scrap will require massive areas of land for disposal. But thanks to recycling technology, it is possible to reuse this scrap metal for new products and prevent unnecessary dumping practices.

Decreases Mining Activities

The more copper scrap is recycled, the lesser the need for mining copper ore. This is ultimately beneficial for the environment as mining copper leads requires an exponential amount of energy and resources. By efficiently recycling copper, a country can almost entirely eliminate the need for further mining or importing copper, making it an environmentally and financially conscious decision in the long run.

Hence, to prevent these harmful practices, it is vital to encourage copper recycling the world over.

Alnor Industries Ltd. is a family-owned establishment that was set up in 1978. Over the years, we have developed into one of the leading recycling and scrap yard facilities in the GTA. To know more about our services, contact us today.