Even though the minimisation of waste is the prime principal in modern waste management, recycling plays a dominating part in waste strategies. The primary aim of recycling within the whole system of waste management is to recycle materials, which cannot be reused any longer. The method of recycling is to process manufactured materials to make new ones. This process uses less energy than the first manufacturing step and causes less damage to the environment.

Recycling is responsible for collecting, sorting, processing and marketing a vast range of materials, which include the by-products of the manufacturing industries and end-of-life consumer products. Nevertheless, these secondary materials are produced to critical specifications and marketed to industries such as foundries, around the globe. There exists an enormous potential energy saving by using scrap instead of virgin materials.

Scrap metal processing activities within the recycling loop