Scrap metal management is crucial for businesses because it contributes to environmental sustainability, economic growth, and resource conservation. This process is especially important for companies that generate regular amounts of scrap metal. By implementing an effective scrap metal management system, businesses can efficiently segregate, collect, store, and recycle the metal, thus reducing waste and lowering their carbon footprint.
At Morecambe Metals, we have over 35 years of experience in handling and managing scrap metal and are the leading scrap metal recycler in the area. Today, we will cover how a business could implement various strategies to improve their management before organising collection or drop-off at our scrap metal recycling facility.
What Is a Scrap Metal Management System?
A Scrap Metal Management System is a systematic approach to handling and disposing of scrap metal generated by businesses in their processes. It’s a comprehensive plan that often includes the following:
Identification and Segregation: Recognising different types of scrap metal and separating them effectively for easier recycling. This is crucial because different types of metal may be more valuable. By not segregating them, you could be lowering the value of your scrap.
Collection and Storage: Safe and systematically collecting and storing scrap metal until enough has accumulated for recycling. It’s important to properly store scrap metal to reduce safety hazards and potential environmental harm.
Recycling or Disposal: This involves taking the collected scrap metal to a recycling facility like Morecambe Metals for processing. The sorted metal is then put through our extensive recycling process, which includes ferrous and non-ferrous recycling.
Implementing a structured scrap management system offers notable advantages such as maximising scrap metal value, ensuring operational safety, monitoring scrap production, and identifying opportunities for waste minimisation. These attributes contribute significantly to a business’s overall efficiency, sustainability, and profitability while maintaining a professional approach to resource management.
Who Can Benefit From a Scrap Management System?
There is no end to companies that would benefit from an effective scrap management system.
- Manufacturing Companies: Businesses that produce metal products often generate scrap metal as part of their processes. Efficient scrap management allows these companies to recycle this waste, extracting further value and reducing production costs.
- Construction Industry: Companies involved in construction and demolition can generate large amounts of scrap metal. Proper management helps them realise potential revenues from this waste, and it aids in site safety and cleanliness.
- Automotive Industry: Car manufacturers and businesses in car repair and wrecking can greatly benefit from recycling the scrap metal that they produce.
- Electrical Industry: Companies in this sector, whether in the form of technical electronics or electrical contractors, can recover precious metals from electronic waste through proper scrap management.
- Waste Management and Recycling Facilities: For these businesses, efficient scrap management systems can increase their output and the quality of their recycled materials, contributing to higher profits.
Anyone generating or dealing with metal is most likely to generate scrap metal. Therefore, many businesses and industries can benefit from a scrap metal management system.
How Can You Separate and Identify Various Metals?
As experts in scrap metal recycling, we have various tools to help identify different metals and their conditions. However, as a business, if you wish to identify your metal by collecting categories together, you could maximise the value of scrap metal when it comes to selling it. There are many ways you can separate your metal. Each will vary in application depending on the scale of your collections. For example, at Morecambe Metals, we use the ECS to segregate non-ferrous metals from ferrous metal recycling using magnets. Although an ECS may be a big investment, the same principle applies with standard magnets.
Using a magnet, you can identify the ferrous metals within your scrap and collect them with others for ferrous metal recycling, which could help increase the profit on the sale of your scrap metal. If the magnet is attached to the scrap metal, this confirms a percentage of iron in the metal. There are more complex and costly ways to unify your metal collections, such as metal testing kits, which use chemicals to determine the exact type of metal. However, magnetic is most efficient unless operating a large operation of metal recycling or dealing with expensive metals such as precious metals.
Collecting and Storing Metal
Although defined as scrap, metal destined for recycling is significant to any business. It can often generate a steady income when collected regularly. For this reason, it is essential to have a strategy in place when it comes to storage and collection. If left in an easily accessible location, it can be vulnerable to thieves, reducing the profitable gain from your waste. For example, if you own an electrical contracting business, the spare wiring, whether from an old property or offcuts from a job, could be valuable, so storing it away until there is enough to strip down and get collected is essential.
Not only does collecting your metal and storing it correctly prevent it from being stolen, but it also has advantages to the safety of your site, yard or warehouse. Scrap metal comes in all shapes and sizes, often with sharp edges or ends. These could cause a potential hazard for your staff or contractors on site. Storing it away ensures you are vigilant and provide safety for staff and potential members of the public.
The Correct Recycling and Disposal of Metal
The final step in your scrap metal management system is ensuring it is handled correctly per regulations and with a reputable scrap metal buyer. A reputable scrap metal dealer fairly assesses and values your materials based on their market value. They will be open about their pricing structure and other applicable fees, ensuring you get a good deal for scrap metal. Additionally, like our BMRA (British Metals Recycling Association) certification, they will hold relevant approval certificates, guaranteeing that they abide by all the pertinent environmental and industry regulations.
This authenticity ensures ethical handling and disposal of your scrap metal, thereby contributing to the ecological benefits of recycling. It also proves they are a genuine business. Like most industries, some fraudulent companies attempt to provide false quotes and alter documents to fit their illicit processes. To help prevent becoming associated with scrap metal laundering, always check a business’s credentials and testimonials.
Collection Services
Although a collection service may not be needed for every business, you can organise a collection service if you have large amounts of scrap metal to recycle and don’t have the time to deliver it to a recycling facility. At Morecambe Metals, we can hire various-sized skips to suit the needs of your business and can even collect the same day if the scrap metal cannot be secured from theft. However, if you need it a little longer, we have long-term leases with regular collections when required.
For example, we hugely support a local stock car racing club, which generates vast amounts of waste at each event. They have a skip of site, which is regularly emptied and is a long-term solution to their scrap metal recycling. We can even conduct industrial dismantling, saving you the trouble of finding a workforce and resources to dismantle commercial properties that are no longer fit for use. Whatever your scrap mental needs are, Morecambe Metals can provide a solution.
Choosing Morecambe Metals for Your Needs
Morecambe Metals is the partner you can trust for all your scrap metal recycling needs. With decades of industry experience, strict adherence to environmental regulations, and a committed team, we ensure that every aspect of the recycling process is professionally managed.
Our team offers efficient, transparent, and eco-friendly recycling solutions to maximise your returns and contribute to a sustainable future. Contact us today to discuss how we can meet your scrap metal recycling requirements.