Copper is a highly sought after metal for use in industry because of its thermal and electrical conductivity. Because copper does not degrade during the recycling process, it lends particularly well to recycling. Products made from recycled copper perform just as well as those from freshly-mined copper ore. Maryland residents can use scrap yards for their copper recycling in Baltimore MD.
History of Copper Recycling
Copper has been used steadily throughout history from as early as 8000 B.C. Around 3500 B.C., the process of smelting ores was discovered and the Bronze Age began. In the Middle Ages, it was common that after a war, that cannons would be melted down and turned into more useful items. Likewise, those items would be melted down and turned into cannons when that became necessary in times of war.
Advantages of Copper Recycling
As with other products, there are many reasons why it is beneficial to the environment to recycle copper. Recycling copper avoids filling landfills more than necessary and minimizes the release of gases into the environment that are emitted during the process to refine newly-mined copper. Preparing recycled copper takes about 10% of the energy it takes to extract copper from copper ore. This leads to a conservation of the natural copper ore reserves as well as conservation of the oil, gas, or coal used in the manufacturing process. Copper is a finite resource and while only an estimated 12% of the natural ore has been mined, recycling will preserve that copper as long as possible.
Tips for Copper Recycling
Recycling copper has many advantages by reducing the amount of energy used as well as preserving the natural copper resources. Sources of scrap copper can be found in a home’s electrical and plumbing wiring, in TV’s and monitors, and inside electronics and appliances. Before heading out to the scrap yard, be sure to sort scrap materials by type and strip any copper wire in order to receive the best possible price for it. Schedule an appointment with a scrap yard for Copper Recycling in Baltimore MD in order to turn any scrap copper that has been accumulated into cash.
