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Throughout this series, we have discussed how the scrap metal recycling industry is shaping the global economy. In today’s economy, businesses can take advantage of new technology to recycle outdated equipment. However, many people are not aware that the products they use everyday can be recycled in a cost effective manner.
Across the country, the e -recycling industry is taking advantage of new technology that makes recycling both cost effective and environmentally friendly. Each day businesses dispose of countless products that can be reused and recycled.
The scrap recycling industry supports more than 450,000 American jobs and generates $10.3 billion in revenue for federal, state, and local governments. The U.S. scrap recycling industry is particularly important because its operations are so widespread. In fact, the total economic activity generated by scrap recycling in the United States is more than $90.6 billion, making the industry similar in size to the nation’s forestry and fishing industries combined.
In 2010, more than 130 million metric tons of scrap metal, paper, plastic, glass, textiles, rubber and electronics, valued at more than $77 billion, were manufactured into specification grade commodities by the scrap recycling industry in the United States.
The scrap metal recycling industry is a good barometer for the global economy because of the role it plays in the fundamental and technical side of the economy. The volatility of commodity prices has been wreaking havoc on Wall Street in recent months. Traders and analysts have been staring at their terminals in amazement as prices continue to drop with no end in sight. With the click of a mouse, they can change their position or hedge their bets. However, for the scrap metal recycling industry, or the fundamental side of the business, adapting to the price swings can be exponentially more challenging.
As anyone that reads the news can tell you, the world is becoming “flatter” every day. New technology has allowed for communication to take place in an instant across the global. Entire economies and regions can be built in less than a decade. Just last week, there have been reports that there are currently 7 billion people on Earth.
Overseas markets, with their population explosion, have kicked off a massive construction effort. The question that scrap metal recycling executives ask themselves every day is: What are we doing to do with all of these materials? The industry has taken a lead in technological advances, and this has led to the United States being a major player in the global recycling industry.
The goal of this series was to give you an overview of the scrap metal recycling industry by educating our readers on the positive impact our sector can have on the economy. Each of us can do our part to have a positive impact on the environment, and our economy.
