What is the Role of Metal Shredding?

An important consideration when it comes to waste accumulation concerns safe and responsible disposal. Recycling tends to be the answer, and shredding is recognised as a crucial part of the metal recycling process. Since the role of shredding helps to reduce the size of a material, its significance in this process should never be underestimated, as it holds many advantages to you, scrapyards and the environment.

So, how can scrap metal shredding benefit recycling and why is it necessary?

It Makes Metal Easier to Handle

Metal shredding is an aid to the recycling process, so much so that it is, in fact, considered essential. This is because when various metals are shredded they’re also easier to separate with an Eddy Current Separator (into ferrous and non-ferrous) and require less energy to melt down too – so, it’s eco-friendlier! If the volume of scrap metal is reduced, then handling it becomes a lot easier and will need fewer resources that can be spent elsewhere. Without shredding, scrap metal would occupy a large amount of space and require a lot of manpower to work with it.

It Creates Feedstock

Shredded metal is typically used as feedstock at the front end of many industrial processes; for example, in furnaces, where it increases the re-melting efficiency. This means the shredded material helps to create more sustainable processes.

It Allows the Recycling of Different Items

A shredder is capable of dealing with different types of metal coming from a variety of daily life items. The largest scrap metal shredders in the world usually have 10,000 horsepower, a staggering figure that becomes even more impressive when you learn that they are also capable of processing 350 to 450 vehicles per hour!

At Morecambe Metals, we shred an array of infeed material that includes loose light iron, end-of-life vehicles and electrical and electronic equipment waste.

 

Scrap metal shredding helps us to meet several recycling targets, such as reducing waste and reducing its chemical impact on the environment, as it’s an incredibly useful technique when recycling metal. We processed 50,000 tonnes of scrap metal last year and are looking to improve this number this year!

If you need metal shredding or wish to learn more about our other services, such as our mobile baling or factory clearance, don’t hesitate to ring us on 01524 69191 or contact us today by emailing us at info@morecambemetals.co.uk.