Global Recycling Day is approaching, and we want to help you do your bit for the environment by becoming #RecyclingHeroes. On the 18th of March 2024, the Global Recycling Foundation is marking the 7th annual Global Recycling Day, so we’ve put together some facts as to why you should reduce your waste, reuse items and recycle your metal! Metal Recycling facts 1. Metal is 100% recyclable! Both steel and aluminium can be recycled repeatedly forever, without changing the strength and integrity of the metal. 2. You can be paid for recycling your metal! If you bring your scrap metal to somewhere lik ..read more

AI is proving it’s not a load of rubbish. Artificial intelligence, or AI, is everywhere, from helpful chatbots online to Siri and Alexa in our phones – and for the first time, it’s now being introduced in the recycling industry.  Recycling companies SWEEEP Kuusakoski and Recycleye have launched a new way to sort waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE). Their cutting-edge technology utilises AI, combined with original waste-sorting equipment, to help detect different metals with ease.  Recycling centres across the country already have various ways to sort through waste – from ..read more

The government have recently announced new regulations that aim to boost recycling rates and protect the environment. Plans are being put in place to change household and business bin collections to a ‘new, simpler common-sense approach’ to recycling. What are the changes? In the hopes of ending the confusion about what materials can go in which bin, the recycling bins are being merged. What this means is that households and businesses can bag all recyclable material together – so, plastic, metal, paper and cardboard will go in the same bin. Food waste collections will also increase in England ..read more

With the recent ban on disposable vapes in the UK welcomed by many, we’re sure they’ll be around for a while longer at least – so let’s look into how easily they can be disposed of and why they’re so dangerous. Disposable vapes have become popular since the smoking ban and changes to cigarette packaging were put in place. With a wide range of flavours and colours, disposable vapes are the new way for people to get their nicotine fix. However, from a recycling perspective, having thousands of pretty-coloured plastic tubes filled with chemicals and a battery going in the bin is an environmental ..read more

Abandoned shopping trolleys are a common sight, often seen straying just outside the supermarket’s car park, down a random side street, or upturned in the canal. But what should you do if you find them? Trolley theft is a bigger problem than you might think – the retail industry estimates that there are close to one million shopping trolleys abandoned per year. This costs British businesses around £35m per year (more than £95,000 every day) with most of those trolleys ending up in UK waterways and rivers or discarded and left to rot. You might think you’re doing a good deed by taking any stray ..read more

What metal items go into my kerbside recycling bins? The items accepted in your kerbside recycling will change depending on your local council. Manchester City Council have allocated a brown bin for mixed metal, glass, and bottle-shaped plastic recycling. They accept the following metal items in your recycling collection: Foil and foil trays Empty aerosol cans Tins and food cans Note: if you crumple a food wrapper and it springs back into shape, it has been mixed with plastic and cannot be recycled with other metals. If it remains crumpled, it can be recycled. Don’t forget to empty and prope ..read more

What is a precious metal? The term ‘precious metals’ simply describes high value pure metals. Although these chemical elements are naturally occurring, they’re typically quite rare. They also have shared qualities that increase their value. Precious metals are usually quite ductile and less chemically reactive than other metals – properties that make them useful for manufacturing purposes. They’re also usually known for their lustre, this describes their notable brilliance and shine, which is why they’ve been used for millennia in currency, jewellery, and decorative art. While the value of pre ..read more

A fantastic invention with the potential for some exciting scrap metal recycling applications was presented at Northern Europe’s largest design event, Dutch Design Week, this October. This year’s theme was ‘Get Set’, with a focus on products that foster change through innovation. This was in no doubt achieved by graduate student Jelle Seegers who showcased his incredible and fascinating Solar Metal Smelter as part of the Design Academy Eindhoven student show. His smelting process provides a far more sustainable alternative to traditional methods, all of which rely on fuel to generate an indust ..read more

The high price of copper has made it a tempting target for organised crime. In recent years there has been a rise in theft of the valuable metal across the UK since the pandemic saw the price of copper soar. Rise in UK copper theft At the end of August, £60K worth of copper cables were stolen from Kentford in Suffolk and nearly 1.5km of copper cables were stolen from a village in Hertfordshire, knocking out the internet of nearly 1000 homes in the area. In July, thieves stole £50K worth of copper train parts from the Loughborough depot – valuable pipework and cylinders specifically designed fo ..read more

A spokesperson for the Great Central Railway has asked for local scrap dealers and merchants to keep their eyes out for copper piping, expansion links, and steam boiler valves that were stolen from the Loughborough train depot this weekend. The 1946 Boscastle steam engine was undergoing major restoration work when parts specifically designed for the 76-year-old train were taken after thieves broke into a storage container housing the parts in the early hours of the morning on Saturday 2nd July. The parts have been valued at approximately £50,000 and the GCR spokesperson expressed sadness at th ..read more