The article tells about what scrap of ferrous metal is, because of what it is formed and how it is reused in industry.
Start
Mankind has been familiar with metal since time immemorial, and it played a significant role in the development of society. The very first primitive labor tools were made of copper, and later bronze, all of them were not durable and quickly deteriorated. Especially if they used it in weapons. But with the discovery of the method of smelting iron ore, everything has changed. Naturally, there was not enough iron, since the process of its manufacture was long and painstaking, and the quality left much to be desired. But at the end of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th centuries, everything changed with the extraction of coal. A new type of fuel made it possible to establish mass production of iron and made the industrial revolution. But what is ferrous metal scrap ? Why is it formed and how can it be reused? This we will understand.
Terminology
According to the official definition, scrap metal is the collective name for waste from the metallurgical industry, iron trash and metal aggregates that have become unusable. It is divided into one that is disposed of in the secondary cycle, and one with which it is impossible to do. Simply put, scrap of ferrous metal is iron that is no longer used for its intended purpose, but, having remelted which is reused, can be used again. In addition to the natural appearance in the form of obsolete products, scrap metal also appears as waste in a particular production. For example, in the form of casting waste (droplets), scale or shavings during the operation of turning and milling machines. For economic reasons, it is much more profitable to re-melt ferrous metal scrap a second time than to do the same from ore.
Ecology is also an important factor - iron oxide products pollute the environment much less than non-ferrous metals, for example, lead, but the constant cleaning of reservoirs and landfills from iron has a beneficial effect on nature.
Ferrous scrap: types
After it arrives at the recycling or smelting plants, ferrous iron is necessarily sorted, and even if, at first glance, the difference is small, but it is not. First sorted by type of metal: steel, cast iron, stainless steel. Then, by the percentage of carbon, it is divided into two classes, then again into two classes by the number of alloying materials. The final separation occurs in quality, in total 28 degrees. And only after that he doesn’t go re-melting. With non- ferrous metal, everything is somewhat more complicated, but we will not dwell on it, since we consider only scrap of ferrous metals.
Reasons and Benefits
As already mentioned, one of the reasons for recycling is the economic benefit, since it is easier to melt metal waste than to start the process of its manufacture from scratch. But, as in any technological process, the remelting of scrap entails a number of other important consequences.
First, iron ore deposits are severely depleted. Although its percentage in the earth’s crust is very large compared to others, mankind has been mining them on a large industrial scale for more than a hundred years.
Secondly, the use of fuel for smelting ore - coal - is reduced - its reserves are also far from unlimited. It also entails a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere and, as a result, the greenhouse effect. In a word - scrap of ferrous and non-ferrous metal and its processing have a beneficial effect on the state economy and the environment as a whole.
A similar practice has existed in all developed countries for more than a hundred years.
Business
After the collapse of the USSR and the introduction of the capitalist economic system in the vast expanses of the former republics, private business began to grow and expand. And one of its types is the reception of ferrous and non-ferrous scrap metal from citizens. In addition, entire enterprises were subjected to utilization, in which over the past years or stagnation time a huge amount of iron has accumulated.
And in our time, this business is widespread, in almost every village you can find a place where they accept black or non-ferrous iron. Prices for it, although not squeezed into a tight framework, but still differ slightly depending on the region.
the USSR
During the years of the Soviet Union, large-scale campaigns to collect iron were also often held. Scrap and waste of ferrous metals was pulled off by schoolchildren, Komsomol members and other citizens both in person and in public, when, for example, at a community work day, students of the institute or factory workers needed to collect a ton or two of iron for delivery. For visual motivation, often on May Day holidays they arranged a peculiar procession of tractors and cars, which were completely made of iron found by Komsomol members.