Recycling Metal Scrap: The Way Towards Greener Environment

Taking breath in a green environment is every human being’s basic right. The human race can’t survive in a polluted environment. The air that goes into our lungs, the water that we drink and the food that we eat should be pure and fresh or else we will not be able to hold our lifespan. The rise in global temperature is continuously leading to an increase in sea levels and many coastlines are going underwater. There is a dire need to take conscious efforts towards this direction or else the face of the earth could be dangerous in the coming time.

Lack of Awareness regarding recycling metal scrap

Indian cities are one of the most polluted in the world. This is a reason to be worried about; however, what is more worrying is that a lot of Indian households and businesses that are determined to fight pollution and environmental degradation but do a very small exercise of recycling. Most of us are aware that paper and plastic can be recycled and the benefits of recycling are very much known to a whole lot of Indians. Our children are taught to conserve resources. Besides, the country’s government runs campaigns to encourage citizens to recycle. Nonetheless, far more than what can actually be recycled is currently being recycled.

Metal recycling awareness, unlike plastic and paper, is low in India. But, recycling of metals is as important to improve the environment as recycling paper, plastic and other commonly recycled materials.

Advantages of Recycling Metal Scrap

We extract all metals from the Earth. This process is intense when it comes to energy and resources. Millions of workers are employed in mining metals and in their processing. Constant mining and processing of metals will end in augmented pollution and damage to the environment due to emission.

The better process is recycling discarded metals. The wasteful and spendthrift process of mining and processing metals will become disused when metals are recycled. Apart from that recycling will reduce the burden of landfills. Above all, when metal is dumped in landfills, it is a complete waste of resource as it is as an ore extracted from the Earth, and it's processing by workers, and reshaping into a useful product is annulled. When the resource, which passed through a refined yet uneconomical process that changed it into something of use to society is unwanted, it renders all the capital and labour used to manufacture it an utter waste.

This process of recycling of metal is also good for savings. The products that are made of recycled metals are priced reasonably. This will not only lead to encouraging the practise of recycling metals but will also lead to further lowering of manufacturing costs and enrichment of the environment.

What Happens when Metals are Recycled?

Recycling metal helps in preserving natural resources including water and energy, particularly in India. As of now, the consumption of metal scrap in India every year is 20.4 million tonnes and we import nearly a third as much from countries like the US, UK, and Japan. Only 20 percent of metal is recycled out of metal that is produced and used in our country. The consequence of this is that we end up wasting a significant amount of natural resources. According to data released by FICCI, recycling of ferrous metal in India can lower emissions by whopping 59 percent, which is an impressive fact.

Likewise, as per FICCI, the recycling of steel waste, can lower water pollution by 76 percent and trim down pollutants in the air by 86 percent. In conclusion, it could be said that recycling of metal has various benefits.

By Rajat Kapoor, President, Cosmos Green FZE