Did you know that metals can be recycled? Cans of milk powder, canned food, soft drinks, motors, tools, cables…. In our daily life we are surrounded by metals that can be recycled, since most of them can be melted and reprocessed creating new materials.

However, these metals do not follow a common pattern when it comes to recycling. Hence, it is important to separate aluminum from those ferrous materials such as iron and steel, since in both recycling centers both types are not accepted.

They can be differentiated in various ways. The easiest is through the identification recycling label that the vast majority of products have. If you do not have such information, you can use a more homemade remedy, such as catching a magnet. All those materials that do not stick will mean that they are made of aluminum.

Normally, in all countries there are recycling services and companies that are responsible for their respective processing. In these places they will be informed about the metals that are accepted, as well as other rules to be taken into account so that their recycling is optimal.

On other occasions, there are also local policies, which encourage citizens to start recycling from their own home, recommending the classification of garbage to deposit them in specific buckets.

Once you know where to recycle, what are the materials we can recycle?

The steel

Steel, one of the most used metals in the world and also one of the most recycled since ancient times, is found in our daily life in many products, such as food cans, refrigerators, motors or nails.

If it is recycled constantly and correctly, steel can not only relieve the demand for mining, but also save the resources used in its production, which represent four times the cost of energy and raw materials.

The aluminum

Soda cans, containers, garden furniture or wrappers to preserve chocolate are just a few examples that contain this metal.

Experts say that enough energy is saved by recycling an aluminum can to operate a TV for 3 hours. However, from the rest of the products, only 42% of the aluminum used is recovered.

Copper, Bronze and Brass

There are other metals such as copper (used for pipes and cables), as well as other generic materials such as metal jewelry, bronze or brass. While it is true that any of these metals requires enough electricity to be reused again, it represents only 5% of the energy consumption that would be needed to produce it from the mines where they are extracted. In addition, it should be taken into account that, in order to obtain these materials, limited raw materials such as limestone or coal are required.

What metals cannot be recycled?

Although almost most metals are recycled, there are some that cannot be reused. Such is the case of containers used for paints or toxic products, pipes (as long as they are not copper), clothes hooks and metal pieces, among others.