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Metal recycling is one of the strategies of greener waste management so as to conserve the environment. This process also ensures sustainability of resources by offering an alternative source of raw materials so as to reducing mining of metals which is harmful to the environment and exhausts scarce resources. Basically, the process of mining involves collection of metal waste (scrap metal), sorting, melting and recasting into useful forms. In addition to conserving the environment, metal recycling is an income generating idea that offers employment to many youth both in developing countries and developed countries. The process of recycling is low cost and most governments support this process by giving incentives. It also supplies cottage industries with raw materials for production of useful cheap equipment. This strategy helps in maintaining a cleaner environment while generating income and creating jobs in the informal sector of the economy. Recycling of metal waste as many advantages and is a solution advocated for by most green activists and environmental agencies.
The Process of Metal Recycling
In the United States of America, 200 million aluminum cans and 100 million steel can are used daily. This metallic cans end up as metal waste. Other sources of metal waste include old cars that are demolished, aluminum foils and worn-out machinery metallic components. These materials can be collected and recycled into a useful form.
The main metals used in the recycling process include steel and aluminum which have a high recycling value. The process of recycling involves the following three stages:
1. Collection
Scrap metal can be collected from waste management yards, impound yards or demolition sites. Some recycling companies buy scrap metal from people who collect them. This is then transported to the recycling plant where it undergoes further processing.
2. Sorting
This process can either be done by the people who collect the scrap metals or at the recycling plant. It involves separating different metals into groups. For instance aluminum waste is grouped separately from steel scrap metal before proceeding to the next stage.
3. Melting and Recasting
This is the final stage where the sorted scrap metals are molten by heating them in kilns at very high temperatures. They are recast into useful forms like rods, sheets or bars. These metal forms are further used as raw materials in other industries.
Advantages of Metal Recycling
The first advantage is that metal recycling keeps the environment clean. It is a greener option of waste management. It also conserves the almost exhausted metal deposits.
Secondly, recycling of scrap metal is a multi-million industry that boosts the economy by creating additional jobs. It has employed many youth in developing countries who otherwise would be criminals.
Thirdly, recycling old metal products uses considerably less energy than manufacturing them from extracted raw materials. Hence, the cost of energy is minimized.
The fourth advantage is that recycling of steel and aluminum waste reduces the emission of greenhouse gases that are commonly emitted during the processing of these metal products from their ores. The process of extracting steel from its ore releases carbon II oxide which is responsible for global warming.
Lastly, recycled metal products are comparatively cheaper than newly extracted metal products.
This summer, retired NHLer Keith Primeau joined the Montreal-based Rebox team. Dedicated to the used box business, Rebox had tapped into a green market of environmentally conscious resources. They’re taking what is old, and repurposing it for continued use, making for a cost efficient product for both Rebox and their clientele.
In business for over twenty years, owners Brian and Mark Young have turned used boxes into a business that is actually beneficial to the environment – something that is quite rare in this day and age of big business. And their efforts have not gone unrecognized — hockey legend Keith Primeau, who is a fan of the way Rebox does business, has decided to join the Rebox team.
With half of their business based in the United States, the hockey player is well situated to help the team build their business up to even greater proportions in the American packing industry. The American market is a huge platform for Rebox to continue building upon, and Keith Primeau is eager to be an active member of the company. He recently stated in an interview that he believed that most American packaging companies lack the “the longevity of Rebox, or our ability to service a large spectrum of potential customers from both the service and supply side.” So to put it simply, Rebox is a capable standout in U.S. territory, and this is only one of the many reasons why Keith Primeau has decided to join the Rebox team.
With the environment hanging in the balance, green businesses are becoming more and more of a necessity, and as a result, are more likely to attract clientele of the same mindset. And if a client has the choice between a planet-friendly product and new material product, which one are they more likely to choose?
Rebox has the right idea, for both the planet and their business plan. With an influential member like Primeau joining their ranks, there’s no limit to their momentum. After all, what’s good for the Rebox is what’s good for the planet, and that’s good for us.
Business and the environment usually find themselves at odds in the modern world, with a great majority of production often being done at the expense of natural resources. In many ways, firms have been forced to choose between being a good corporate citizen and being as profitable as possible. But one innovative solution has been gaining momentum for more than two decades, and industrial packing boxes are at its core.
Based out of Montreal, Quebec, Rebox has been turning heads in the worlds of both conservationism and business since opening its doors in 1990. Operating as so much more than just another recycling firm, Rebox actually utilizes their unique expertise to implement and evaluate a company’s reuse programs in order to maximize efficiency and profit while minimizing environmental impact.
From industrial packing boxes to used moving boxes, if it’s corrugated and reusable, Rebox is involved.
The company will simply buy boxes that have been “once used”, and repurpose them for a secondary life. Because of large market fluctuations due to variable demand for new cardboard boxes, it can be difficult to generate revenue from such an asset. Rebox takes the guess work out of the process and will buy boxes for a flat rate which is significantly higher than the market average for OCC.
With their capacity for volume and intimate knowledge of the recycling industry, they are able to make a sizable profit for themselves, while also providing a reliable revenue stream for their client businesses. By taking over the compacting and bailing of these used packing boxes, Rebox is able to synergize and streamline the process, providing the service for a significantly lower cost than companies can achieve on their own.
The repurposing of used moving boxes provides increased sustainability, providing benefit for the entire planet, while also increasing profitability for the client companies involved. It is the ultimate win-win scenario. Rebox will simply buy boxes which would otherwise be cast aside and use them to generate enough volume that they can achieve a lower cost per unit than any individual company.
In the world of modern business, finding common ground between conservationism and profit has proven to be particularly elusive. Rebox manages to not only walk that line, but also to provide a unique product and exceptional service while setting the industry standard for efficiency and innovation. From top to bottom, there is no better choice for the environment or for the bottom line.
When cardboard boxes and other packaging materials reach the end of their useful life, they often end up as yet another item added to the endless heap of landfill-bound waste. From used moving boxes to commercial packaging materials, the by-products of item transportation have become a significant problem in the recent movement towards green solutions.
With the emphasis placed upon reducing waste at home, packaging materials such as cardboard boxes are often overlooked in lieu of more visible solutions such as at-home composting and the recycling of end-of-line consumer packaging.
While the results of this shift in mentality are yielding substantial results in terms of the amount of waste materials being carted off to the local landfill, it would be wise not to rest on our laurels when there is still substantial environmental progress to be made.
With relatively little extra effort, many companies have actually managed to secure a secondary revenue stream with the re-purposing of used moving boxes, as well as other cardboard boxes used at various points during the production and shipping process. There are now companies that specialize in the re-purposing and redistribution of used moving boxes, often at a substantially lower cost to their clients than purchasing new boxes.
Because of the nature of distribution, there is often little need for corporate enterprises to brand shipping packages, meaning that boxes and other packaging materials can be used over and over again by multiple companies. As long as a box is still in good shape, it can simply be covered with a blank, recycled cardboard front and used for any number of purposes.
From saving money on the purchasing side to creating secondary revenue on the selling end, many companies have found that the benefits of implementing this environmentally friendly process go well beyond consumer perception, and can actually help both the business and the global community through intelligent design and socially conscious decision-making.
Each and every day, millions and millions of products are shipped around the globe. Corporations selling everything from sneakers to bubble gum spend billions of dollars annually on cardboard storage boxes, paper boxes, and other packaging materials.
But even outside of mounting costs, the negative effects of global shipping are being felt through their significant environmental impact. Overseas and domestic shipping requires the use of a veritable sea of packaging materials, including cardboard storage boxes as well as other types of paper boxes and reusable materials.
Luckily for many firms, what is good for the environment has also become good for business. The recent trend toward environmentally friendly options has finally reached the shipping industry, as packaging materials, mainly cardboard storage boxes, are now being purchased, refurbished, and redistributed at a significantly lower cost than brand new.
In addition to the obvious environmental benefits, companies are beginning to find that “going green” is good not only for the bottom line, but also for public perception. Consumers are finally beginning to understand and embrace the role their choices play in dictating the ebb and flow of business, particularly as it relates to environmentally relevant decisions.
In a rare “win-win” business situation, companies are not only saving cash, they are also helping save thousands of hectares of forest while improving their relationships with end of line consumers. While the most profitable concepts in business most often come from pushing the boundaries of technology, it is refreshing to see something as simple and timeless as paper boxes still being used as a vehicle for innovation.
And that’s something we can all take pride in.
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