Metal recycling

Emily Davies 10-1

Recycling is an important part of protecting the planet. In people's daily life, we

consume a lot of resources, such as plastics, glass, paper products, metals, etc. While
all of these materials require a lot of energy to recreate, the pollutants (like
greenhouse gases) that are produced will be brought into the atmosphere and destroy
our planet. And one of the ways to reduce damage is to recycle. In this essay, I will
discuss metal recycling and the benefits and limitations of metal recycling for
government investment.

In simple terms, recycling is the process of converting waste into reusable materials.
And metal recycling is to collect of reusable metals and re-manufacture them for use,
which can effectively utilize natural resources, protect the natural environment, offset
corporate carbon emissions, and reduce the cost of reproduction. In addition, metal is
a versatile commodity that can be used in various ways and industries, and can be
recycled many times without changing its natural properties. However, not all metals
can be recycled, but most of them can be reused, these metals are Copper, Aluminum,
Steel, Brass and bronze scrap, Tin, cast iron, etc.

Metals are limited sources, we cannot produce more aluminum, copper, and steel. So,
recycling metal became more and more important. To recycle metals, all metals end
up in scrap metal yards where they are sorted into different types of recycling waste.
The separated metal is then crushed and compacted with a hydraulic press to remove
non-metallic parts (e.g. glass, plastic), and everything that remains is melted into sheet
metal in a furnace. Finally, metals are used to make new metal products.

Graph 1: the graph of separating and recycling the metals

Different types of metals also need to be separated in this process, and melting these
metals without sorting would waste more energy. So in the process, we need to use the
laws of physics to separate these metals. Different metals have different metallic
properties, such as having different magnetic properties, and some materials are
ferromagnetic, which is that they are easily attracted by magnets. As a result, they can
be separated out of the wanted materials of the mixture.

In this process, other metals will also be affected by magnets, but they are affected in
different ways. as we all know, all metal materials are conductive, and creating
alternating magnetic fields in an area will create electricity inside the metal that will
be recycled. which means with the nature of the electrical energy we can to use the
machine called the eddy current separator to separate other metal materials according
to the type.

The principle of the eddy current separator is based on two very important physical
phenomena: the law of electromagnetic induction (a time-varying alternating
magnetic field is always accompanied by an exchanging variable electric field) and
Biosavatter's law (a current-carrying conductor produces a magnetic field). It is a
rotating drum wrapped by a permanent magnet that generates an alternating magnetic
field, and when the conductive metal passes through this stab wound, a turbine will be
generated in the metal. Importantly, the turbine itself generates an alternating electric
field, which is in the opposite direction of the magnetic field produced by the magnet
rotor, thereby producing a repulsive force. In this way, the purpose of separating the
metal from the material can be achieved.

Graph 2: the graph of the process of the eddy current separator

There are many advantages and disadvantages to recycling metals. In terms of

benefits, recycling metals has provided a more sustainable and long-term economic
development, reduce energy consumption, reduces environmental pollution, slows
down the rate of resource depletion, and at the same time bring benefits to the country
and provides a lot of job opportunities. According to an economic impact study
released by the Scrap Metal Materials Recycling Industry Institute, recycled metals
help generate more than $105 billion in economic activity in the United States each
year, contributing significantly to the nation in terms of jobs and tax revenue.

But metal recycling also has many drawbacks, such as recycling is not always cost-
effective, having high up-front costs, the need for more global support and the quality
of recycled products being sometimes lower. Additionally, one of the disadvantages to
government investment is that sorting metals can cost a lot of time and money, while
recycling may not be able to meet the demand for some metals and therefore a
constant supply. But all in all, the benefits of recycling metals outweigh the
downsides.

Work cited:
SVadmin. “What Are the Disadvantages of Recycling to the Environment?” Eco-

Friendly Lifestyle, 25 Nov. 2021, asocon.org/ecologies/what-are-the-

disadvantages-of-recycling-to-the-environment.html#:~:text=What%20are

%20the%20disadvantages%20of%20recycling%20metals%3F%201.

Accessed 22 Oct. 2022.

Metal, GLE Scrap. “Economic Benefits of Recycling Scrap Metal | GLE Scrap Metal

Recycling.” GLE Scrap, 7 Dec. 2018, glescrap.com/the-economic-benefits-of-

recycling-scrap-metal/.

“3 Easy and Cost-Efficient Ways to Recycle Scrap Metal.” CleanRiver, 18 Aug. 2020,

cleanriver.com/blog3-easy-and-cost-efficient-ways-to-recycle-scrap-metal/

#:~:text=Bring%20the%20Metal%20to%20Scrap.

“The Use of Physics in Recycling | Study.com.” Study.com, 2021,

study.com/academy/lesson/the-use-of-physics-in-recycling.html.