The US processed over 130 million tons of scrap in 2015, says ISRI Scrap Yearbook 2016

SPOKANE (Scrap Monster): Washington-headquartered Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI) has announced the release of the 2016 Scrap Yearbook. It provides the most up-to-date information and statistics about the US scrap industry and global scrap marketplace. In addition, it also outlines the tremendous benefits generated by the worldwide scrap industry.

The US scrap recyclers processed more than 130 million tons of scrap materials including metal, paper, plastics, electronics, textiles, glass and rubber last year. Out of the 130 million tons, iron and steel accounted for 67 million tons, followed by paper (47 million) and Aluminum (5 million). This has resulted in significant energy savings and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Moreover, recycling has led to considerable environmental benefits by preventing materials from ending up in landfills. The UN data suggests that 190 million tons of scrap valued at more than $80 billion were exported globally during 2015.

The Yearbook notes that scrap carries significant value as they can be processed into tradable products which could be used as raw materials in the manufacture of new products. Scrap commodities are used by paper mills, plastic manufacturing plants, steel mills, foundries etc. Producers of copper and copper alloy products also use scrap in huge quantities. As per estimates, the contained copper provided by old and new copper scrap constituted nearly 47% of the total US apparent copper consumption in 2015. Also, over 70% of the scrap processed in the US was consumed domestically.

The scrap recycling industry creates and supports jobs and also contributes significantly to the nation’s economy. With reference to an independent study conducted by Dunham, the US scrap processors and brokers directly employed nearly 150,000 people in 2015. In addition, nearly 323,000 jobs were indirectly supported. The workers earned $30.8 billion in wages and benefits. Also, the industry paid $11.2 billion in direct federal, state and local taxes.

According to figures released by the US Census Bureau and the US International Trade Commission, the US exported more than 37 million metric tons of scrap commodities to more than 150 countries around the world. The exports of scrap commodities out of the US were valued at $17.5 billion during the year. Recovered paper and ferrous scrap exports represented bulk of the US scrap export volumes, accounting for more than 31 million metric tons combined. The major export destinations for US scrap during 2015 were China ($6 billion), Canada ($2 billion), South Korea ($1 billion), Turkey ($930 million), Mexico ($920 million) and India ($900 million).

The US continued to remain as the leading ferrous scrap exporting nation in 2015. During the year, the US exported 11.7 million metric tons of ferrous scrap excluding stainless and alloy steel scrap to nearly 75 countries worldwide. These exports were valued at $3.1 billion. The slower demand growth, especially from China, coupled with falling commodity prices impacted the ferrous scrap export volumes in 2015.

Non-ferrous metal scrap accounted for more than 50% of the US scrap recycling industry earnings during 2015. Over 8 million metric tons of non-ferrous scrap valued at approximately $32 billion was processed in the country during the previous year. However, volume of nonferrous scrap accounted for only 6% of the total recycled quantity during the year. In 2015, aluminum metal recovered in the US totaled nearly 3.46 million metric tons. Out of this, almost 54% came from new scrap and the balance 46% from old scrap. The US exports of aluminum scrap totaled around 1.6 million metric tons in 2015.