About Metal Recylcing

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