Metal Recycling: Everything You Need to Know
Two Reasons Why It’s Particularly Important to Take Your Metal Refuse to a Metal Recycling Facility
Melissa Stanley
Whilst it's important to recycle any material that is suitable for the recycling process, it is particularly vital to recycle your metal refuse at a metal recycling facility. Here are two reasons why.
Scrap metal can injure wildlife
When thrown into a landfill instead of being recycled at a metal recycling facility, scrap metal can seriously injure wildlife. The reason for this is that many types of wildlife, including rodents and birds, enter landfill sites in search of food because these sites often contain food waste, as well as other refuse. If, whilst foraging for food in these areas, these creatures encounter scraps of metal, there is a chance that they might be wounded by it if they scrape against a jagged piece. They might even ingest tiny bits of it that are hidden amongst the food debris, and develop internal injuries as a result of this. If there are large, heavy pieces of scrap metal in a landfill, there is also a chance that they could fall on animals and injure them.
As such, if you want to minimise the harm that your refuse-disposal decisions inflict on the wildlife in your local area and you have some scrap metal that you wish to get rid of, you should take this metal to a metal recycling facility. At this facility, the scrap metal will undergo processes that will transform it into a usable material once again, rather than putting it in a landfill where it may act as a hazardous material that injures the birds, rodents and other creatures that visit this refuse site.
Metal refuse can leech heavy metals into the soil in and near landfill sites
Another reason why it's especially important to take any metal refuse you have to a metal recycling centre is that this material, when put into landfills, can leech dangerous heavy metals, such as lead and cadmium, into the soil that is beneath and near landfill sites.
Heavy metals have the potential to not only damage the plants that grow in the contaminated soil but can also harm the animals (such as deer and rabbits) that try to consume these plants. Likewise, if there are rivers running over the areas in which this contaminated soil is located, any wildlife that drinks from these rivers could also get ill. By ensuring that your metal refuse is responsibly recycled at a facility that specialises in metal recycling, you can avoid contributing to the contamination of the soil and natural water sources in the local area.
Contact a local scrap metal facility to learn more.
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If you have a large amount of metal which you no longer need, you may be trying to figure out what you can do with it. While it may be tempting to dump old metal, if you do this you could be making a serious mistake. By recycling the metal you can enjoy two major benefits. The first benefit is that, because the metal will be reused, you will be helping to protect the environment. The second benefit is that you will receive some cash in return for the metal. Last year, I recycled some metal and I was surprised at how easy it was to do this. If you want to find out more, read on!
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