2016Yearbook_Flipbook

2016

THE I SR I SCRAP YEARBOOK

How is Scrap Processed?

The scrapyard has been at the heart of the modern scrap industry and it’s where most metal scrap goes for processing. While it has been said that no two scrapyards are exactly the same given the range of plant sizes, locations, layouts, equipment, and commodities processed, scrapyards do have some distinguishing characteristics. Unlike junkyards and other facilities in the recycling supply chain, scrapyards not only receive and handle recyclables, scrapyards also

shredders, and other tools for processing. While scrapyards vary considerably in size and layout, key variables that affect a plant’s efficiency include maintaining a smooth flow of traffic and minimizing the number of times that material is handled. While scrapyards have often been located near major manufacturing centers, scrap recycling facilities today are located all across the United States and throughout the world. In addition to outdoor recycling plants, an increasing number of high-tech facilities with advanced sorting systems for processing plastics, electronics, recovered paper, and other commodities are located indoors.

process scrap into commodity-grade material using a range of capital equipment.

Typically, deliveries at a scrapyard will be weighed on a scale upon arrival and will then be moved, sorted, and processed using equipment such as forklifts, trucks, and cranes for transport, as well as balers, shears, wire choppers,

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INSTITUTE OF SCRAP RECYCLING INDUSTRIES, INC.