J&B Recycling Knowledge

The greater part of the scrap and metal recycling industry processes ferrous and non-ferrous metal scrap into vital secondary raw material for the smelting of new metals.

Scrap metal comes in two forms; ferrous (steel and iron) and non-ferrous, such as copper, brass, aluminium and zinc. Most metals can also be recycled time and time again without loss of quality; by recycling metal J&B Recycling can help conserve non-renewable fossil fuels, reduce the consumption of energy and the emission of gasses like carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

The introduction of the End of Life Vehicle Regulations (ELV) has caused a significant change to the make-up of the scrap industry as every vehicle scrapped now has to be de-polluted and the waste materials must be accounted for.

A rapidly developing part of the metals recycling industry is Waste Electricals and Electronic Equipment (WEEE). Large household appliances such as ovens, fridges, washing machines etc. make up over 40% of waste electricals and electronic equipment, but there are large amounts of other tech equipment such as computers and televisions, small household appliances and electrical tools, digital watches, electronic toys and medical devices.

In the UK, the UK throws away around 600 million aerosol bottles, which works out to roughly ten cans per person. As the majority of aerosols are made of tin plated steel and the rest are made from high grade aluminium. This makes up almost 30,000 tonnes of reclaimable metal which can be recycled every year.

When recycling aerosols, only empty bottles and cans can be placed into kerbside recycling bins. They should not be separated into batched as the best and safest way to recycle them is to mix them with the rest of your metal waste as this dilutes the amount of aerosols that are in the total recycling. Also ensure that your aerosol cans are not crushes or pierced before disposing.

Many local authorities are successfully including collection of aerosols in their kerbside or mixed waste collection schemes.

J&B Recycling can offer manufacturers and local authorities a flexible range of collections for scrap metal including skips, Roll on off hook lifts and articulated trailer units. We can cover wait and load collections, short term demolition contracts or long term scrap metal storage, to suit individual metal recycling needs.

J&B Recycling provide waste management solutions for business across the North of England. Our main Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) is based in Hartlepool and we have a second site in Middlesbrough, making us ideally placed for collections across Teesside (Hartlepool, Stockton, Middlesbrough and Darlington). We also have a site in Washington and we operate established collection routes throughout Durham, Gateshead, Newcastle, Sunderland, North Tyneside and Northumberland. Please don't hesitate to get in touch if we can help with your waste collection.