Metals

Typical items we accept:

Metal food and drinks cans

Tins

Aerosols

Small metal items e.g. bottle tops

Background info:

Metals come in two forms; ferrous (steel and iron) which includes steel packaging such as food cans and non-ferrous (copper, brass, aluminium and zinc) which includes over 75% of drinks cans. 

Iron, steel and aluminium are the world's most recycled materials and among the easiest to re-process as they can be separated magnetically from mixed waste streams. According to the British Metal Recycling Association (BMRA) some 2 billion aluminium and steel cans are recycled in the UK every year.  

McGrath Metal Recycling Solutions:

Either separated for bulky items or as a mixed recycling stream we provide a comprehensive and responsive collection service and would typically provide the one or more of the following containers/systems on-site: Internal recycling containers, wheeled containers, enclosed skip or rolonof containers.

How it is recycled:

When returned to our Materials Recycling Facility we separate metals into a series of discrete streams: Aluminium, Copper, Lead, Steel and Zinc which are baled and bulked for transport to specialist recycling facilities. 

The re-processing techniques vary but generally involve re-melting the materials in a furnace and recasting. Any grade of steel can be recycled to top quality new metal, with no 'downgrading' from prime to lower quality materials i.e. 42% of crude steel produced is recycled material.  Recycling aluminium only results in approximately 5% of the CO2 that would be released during the production of raw aluminium.

Virtually all metals follow a closed loop recycling process and are recycled into a high quality manufacturing resource. 

KEY FACTS:

Percentage we recycle: 100%

Quantity recycled in UK : 13 million tonnes (BMRA)

Aluminium packaging recycled in UK: 42% (ALUPRO)

Average CO2(e) saving per tonne recycled:  –3.91 tonnes (Defra)