How Recycling Benefits the Planet - Austin Metal & Iron in TX

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How Recycling Benefits the Planet

If you have ever considered going green in your everyday life, one of the easiest ways to begin is to learn how to recycle. When recycling, the materials you use benefit the environment and planet in measurable ways. Once you understand the basic principles of recycling, integrating the methods into your everyday life is simple.

What Is Recycling?

In the simplest terms, recycling is the process of using old materials to create new materials. It can also mean repurposing materials into new projects. When you recycle items and materials you no longer need, it prevents them from becoming waste in landfills and contributing to the pollution of the environment. Recycling facilities, like Austin Metal & Iron, collect unwanted recyclable items and sort them according to type. The materials are then broken down and processed into raw materials that are used to manufacture new products.

The exact process depends on the type of material. For example, recycled scrap metal is melted down and eventually becomes metal ingots. Paper products are shredded and broken down into pulp, which is then made into new rolls of paper.

What Items Can Be Recycled?

When you think of recycling, you probably think about the household items you use most that can be thrown into a recycling bin for collection. These items, such as plastic, glass, aluminum cans, cardboard, and paper products, are easy to recycle because collection locations are abundant. Many municipalities provide recycle bins to residents and pick up the items curbside. Many objects that end up in landfills or discarded on properties are more challenging to recycle because they are heavy and bulky. Scrap metal found in old appliances, car parts, and household construction items are sources of highly recyclable materials.

What Are the Main Recycling Benefits?

There are multiple benefits to regularly recycling your materials for repeat use. The most obvious and perhaps most important benefit is to the planet. Reusing materials that have already been through the manufacturing process means fewer raw materials need to be harvested. For paper products, fewer trees need to be cut down, and for other products, such as metals, it means less emphasis on mining.

If more people participate in recycling programs, sustainable products become more normalized. Although processing plants do give off emissions, the impact on the environment is not as marked as the destruction of landscapes associated with mining metal ores or leveling trees at a rate that cannot be easily replaced. Mining for new metals also impacts wildlife and the transportation cost to move mined metal ore to processing areas is greater than from recycling centers to designated processing plants.

Recycling your metals and other materials also reduces the need for large landfills. Landfills are a large source of pollution, including both chemical and visual pollution. Trash sent to landfills is such a problem that new ones are continually being built or expanded. If everyone just increased recycling habits just a little bit, it would have an incredible impact on the number of necessary landfills.

Recycle Your Scrap Metal at Austin Metal and Iron

Recycling is not just good for the planet, it can benefit your wallet as well; when you bring your scrap metal to Austin Metal and Iron, a team member weighs it and gives you a quote to purchase it from you. The metal is then sorted and sent to a processing facility to be recycled into new products. If you have any questions about scrap metal recycling, contact Austin Metal and Iron today.

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