How recycling Metals helps the environment
It is a common thing to find people littering the roads with all kinds of cans, cartons, plastic and paper products. If people knew the environmental benefits that come with recycling the unwanted metals, they would be more careful in disposing and recycling them. Take a look at some of the benefits.
Reducing the energy spent in mining
There is lots of energy that is used up in the mining process in terms of fueling, man-hours and the refinery process of the metals. By recycling metals, we save about 70% of this energy. The energy can be used in other tasks. Moreover, the lower the cost of energy used in the process, the lower the cost of production. This brings down the cost of purchasing goods made with the metals.
Reducing emissions to the environment
The increased amount of carbon emissions into the environment is to blame for the increased level of global warming. If metals are recycled, there will be a reduction of the carbon emissions into the atmosphere and therefore less pollution. Al though we cannot undo most of the damage that has already been made to the atmosphere but lowering the amount of emissions can help prevent the environment from facing further degradation.
Preservation of resources
When we recycle we save lots of resources that may have been put into producing new metals from the ores. Most of the resources including the metal ores themselves can get exhausted if used for all the metal needs in the economy. By recycling the metals, less natural resources are used and more saved for the future.
Reduction of the need for landfills
Most of the metal that is not recycled will end up in the landfills. Given the rate of the use of metals especially, steel, aluminum and their alloys, we would need more landfills to take on the waste metals. Landfills are one of the major sources of soil pollution. There are thousands of landfills around the world that have made the land around them unproductive. They are also an eyesore.
Beautiful surroundings
Littered aluminum and steel can make our surroundings look dirt and uninviting. Dirty environment is a breeding ground for many waterborne and airborne diseases. On the other hand, clean surroundings are safe, fresh and make us feel relaxed. Recycling gets those metallic cans from our streets and back to our shops for better usage. Let us conserve the environment by recycling all the metals when were are done using them.