When most think of recycling, visions of pop cans, milk jugs and wine bottles dance in your mind.
However, there is so much more to recycling.
Owner of Northern Recycling Incorporated (NRI), Enver Hrbinic said business is doing well in the scrap metal recycling business.
“Things are great,” he said.
“In the last few years, the scrap metal market has seen an increase and hopefully it stays that way.
“It all depends on market conditions.”
Hrbinic hasn’t found any trends in regards to which kind of products come through his doors.
“It’s all random, there’s no specific item that’s brought in more than others,” he explained.
Some of the best reasons to recycle your scrap metal instead of throwing it in the trash are the revenue and the impact on the environment.
“They can make good money off the metal they’d normally just throw away,” Hrbinic explained.
After customers bring their scrap metal to Hrbinic, he said most of it will stay relatively local.
“A lot of it will end up in the North American domestic market.
“It might end up in one of the foundries in North America or it’ll end up in China or somewhere along those lines.”
Metals are a great material to recycle since it can be melted and re-used an unlimited amount of times.
“They say in the industry that metal is endlessly recyclable, it can keep getting turned over into new metal products,” Hrbinic said.
That cycle is what makes the recycling of metal better for the environment than having it in landfills.
In a study conducted by the US Environmental Protection Agency, it was found using scrap metals can translate to 90 per cent savings in raw materials used and 76 per cent reduction in water pollution.
Scrap metals are divided into two main categories, ferrous and non-ferrous, with ferrous metals containing iron.
Recycled scrap removes potentially hazardous waste from landfills, thus keeping the air and water cleaner.
NRI accepts a wide variety of metal products, from stainless steel to copper.
For more information, call Hrbinic, 250-991-2749.