About Metal Recylcing
Celebrating 100 Years of Metal Recycling
A lot has happened in the past 100 years that DeKalb Iron & Metal has been recycling:
A lot has happened in the past 100 years that DeKalb Iron & Metal has been recycling:
- The United States has elected 18 Presidents since 1918
- Early 1900’s metal recyclers traded furs and rags for scrap iron to sell
- In 2018, recyclers, brokers, and mills trade contracts based on commodity markets
- The U.S. population has grown from 103 Million to 326 Million (www.census.gov)
- The auto industry has evolved from the Model T Ford (1908) to the Tesla (2003)
- World World I (Ended 1918) and World War II (Ended 1945) helped re-shape American Manufacturing
- The states of Hawaii and Alaska were added in 1959
- The metal recycling industry was a $106 Billion industry in 2015, up from $77 Billion in 2010
- 135 million metric tons of scrap metal are recycled globally each year
- Two-thirds of the iron and steel made in the United States is manufactured using ferrous scrap
- Recycling one ton of aluminum conserves up to five metric tons of bauxite ore (where aluminum comes from) and 14 megawatt hours of electricity
- Manufacturing with recycling copper saves 90% of the energy it takes to manufacture using virgin metals
- Recycling one ton of steel conserves 2,500 lbs. of iron ore, 1,400 lbs. of coal, and 120 lbs. of limestone
- A used aluminum can is recycled and back on the grocery shelf within just 60 days, on average
- The United States annually recycles enough copper to provide the copper content of more than 25,000 Statues of Liberty
- On average, the United States processes enough ferrous scrap daily, by weight, to build 25 Eiffel Towers every day of the year
- Recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to run your television for three hours
- The United States annually processes nearly 300 billion lbs. of scrap material – the weight of more than 85 million cars
- The Gateway Arch in St. Louis used 900 tons of stainless steel in construction
- One metric ton of electronic scrap from personal computers contains more gold than that recovered from 17 tons of gold ore
- The United States annually recycles enough ferrous scrap, by weight, to build more than 900 Golden Gate Bridges
- Roll-off boxes
- Lugger boxes
- Dump Hoppers
- Steel Totes
- Barrels
- Skids
- Gondola (open top) Trailers
- Flat Bed Trailers
- Demolition Contractors
- Construction Contractors
- Plumbing, Heating, Electricians
- Manufacturing
- Welding and Fabrication Shop
- Truck & Trailer Repair Shops
- OEM Assembly Plants
- Individual Customers