MEC NEWS JULY 2024
MEC NEWS JULY 2024

MEC NEWS JULY 2024

The Royal Park Salvage loader collecting scrap metal at MEC

MEC SCRAP METAL RECYCLING
An important service provided by the Milang Environmental Centre is the recycling of scrap metal. MEC does not charge a fee for residents to conveniently dispose of scrap metal objects. Consequently, an unsightly pile of scrap metal gradually accumulates at the MEC site directly opposite the main operations shed.
On 8 April this year MEC arranged for the large scrap metal pile to be collected and disposed of by one of South Australia’s oldest and most experienced recycling companies. Royal Park Salvage an integral part of the Jurkovic Group of companies sent a large crane loading machine and transporter along with a scrap metal truck and trailer to MEC. Using a huge magnet to first separate ferrous from non-ferrous metals the MEC scrap metal pile was loaded and taken away. If it were not for this free service a lot of this scrap metal would be left polluting and spoiling our environment.

SCRAP METAL INDUSTRY IN AUSTRALIA
The scrap metal industry in Australia has experienced fluctuating fortunes with a downturn in construction and manufacturing, reduced Chinese demand as their economy slowed, as well as recent interruptions due to the global Covid pandemic.
Government support for recycling including scrap metal, as well as increasing international prices for metals especially steel, has seen the industry benefit and grow. The global metal recycling market is estimated to be worth US$ 75 billion by 2024. Steel is the most recycled metal followed by aluminium and copper. The interesting thing is that the process of collecting and recycling metals usually uses significantly less energy than the process of mining and extracting the ores to produce metal. The process of recycling metals requires less resources, reduces waste, reduces pollution, and provides viable business opportunities for scrap metal industry participants. In Australia nearly 89 % of steel is recycled which is way above the global average of 60 %.

The Royal Park Salvage truck and trailer filled with scrap metal leaving MEC

FERROUS vs NON-FERROUS METALS
Royal Park Salvage came well-prepared to deal with the two main different types of metals within the MEC scrap metal pile: ferrous metals are those that contain iron (the most common is steel) and non-ferrous metals such as aluminium do not contain iron. The huge powerful magnet attached to the crane arm of the Royal Park Salvage loader attracted the ferrous metals so that these were loaded separately into the trailer. Then the more valuable non-ferrous scrap metals including copper, aluminium, stainless steel, brass, lead and nickel alloys were then loaded into the truck. The MEC site looked much better when the whole scrap metal pile had been loaded and transported away. But it did not take long for a new scrap metal pile to develop as local residents took advantage of this free scrap metal disposal service provided by MEC.

MEC WORKSHOP
The Milang Environmental Centre has a workshop area supervised by volunteer David Barry where the more valuable non-ferrous metals are extracted from scrapped items.
David Barry has recently been training new MEC volunteer Sharon Parker how to take items such as overhead fans apart and to extract the brass and copper components.

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