How scrap metal is recycled
Scrap metal is recycled in five stages: collection, sorting, processing, melting and refining, and casting into ingots that manufacturers turn into new products. Each metal has its own route, and good sorting makes every step work.
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Scrap metal is recycled in five stages: collection, sorting, processing, melting and refining, and casting. Steel, aluminium and copper each follow their own route, but every route depends on well-sorted metal. This guide describes the industry as a whole, using Australian and industry sources. It says nothing about how any one company works. For the steps of sending a request to Forge Recyclers, see how it works.
- About 90%of Australia's 5.97 million tonnes of metal waste recovered in 2022-23National waste report 2024
- 43%of Australia's recovered metal left the country in 2022-23National waste report 2024
- More than 95%of Australia's scrap aluminium is exportedAustralian Aluminium Council
- About 85%estimated recycling rate for steelworldsteel
- 32%of the world's copper demand is met with recycled copperInternational Copper Association
- 75%of all aluminium ever made is still in useAustralian Aluminium Council
How is scrap metal recycled?
Recyclers collect scrap, sort it by metal and grade, and shred, shear or bale it. They melt it in a furnace, refine the melt and cast it into ingots. Manufacturers then turn the ingots into new products.
| Stage | What happens | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Collection | Scrap arrives from households, businesses, building sites and factories. New scrap is offcuts from making products. Old scrap has been used and thrown away. | Aluminium Council; worldsteel |
| 2. Sorting | Magnets lift out steel and iron. Eddy current machines sort non-ferrous metals. X-ray analysers identify alloys. Coated and uncoated aluminium are split. | University of Cambridge; British Metals Recycling Association |
| 3. Processing | Shears, shredders and balers cut and compact the scrap. Cars are shredded into fist-sized pieces. Baling cuts freight, storage and handling costs. | British Metals Recycling Association; University of Cambridge; Aluminium Council |
| 4. Melting and refining | Furnaces melt the metal. Impurities are removed or diluted. Each metal has its own furnace and method. | worldsteel; Aluminium Council |
| 5. Casting and making | The melt is cast into ingots or fed into the making of wire, tube, sheet and strip. Manufacturers turn the metal into new products. | Aluminium Council; International Copper Association |
Source: the organisations linked in each row, all checked 2 October 2026.
Where does scrap metal come from?
New scrap comes from factories making products, such as offcuts of sheet or extrusions. Old scrap comes from products that people have used and thrown away, such as drink cans, window frames, cable and car parts. Worldsteel uses similar terms for steel: prompt scrap from factories and end-of-life scrap from home goods, vehicles and buildings.
The 2022 edition of the national waste report lists scrap metal yards under metals recovery facilities. These sort and prepare mixed recovered metals for reprocessing or remanufacturing. In 2022-23 Australia generated about 5.97 million tonnes of metal waste. An estimated 65% came from commercial and industrial sources, 19% from construction and demolition and 16% from household waste (national waste report 2024).
How is scrap metal sorted?
Sorting matters because metals that melt together can become alloys. Without careful separation the quality of the final product drops (University of Cambridge). Worldsteel says steel's natural magnetism makes it very easy to separate and recycle.
Eddy current machines sort non-ferrous metals. A fast-spinning magnet makes conductive pieces, such as aluminium, fly off the end of a conveyor on a different path from plastic and paint. X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysers identify alloys so recyclers can sort them into grades, according to the British Metals Recycling Association. Recyclers also split aluminium into coated and uncoated groups, and they take out paper and plastic.
Shearing, baling and shredding are standard yard jobs. Shredders tear end-of-life cars into fist-sized pieces, and magnets and eddy currents then recover the metals. The separators cannot recover everything. The mixed residue left over is called shredder fluff, and the Cambridge package says it has gone to landfill because separating it further costs too much.
How is metal melted and refined?
| Metal | How it is melted and refined | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Steel | Electric arc furnaces melt charges of up to 100% scrap. Blast furnace steelmaking typically uses 15% to 25% scrap. Blowing oxygen through the melt draws elements such as aluminium, silicon, manganese and chromium into slag. | worldsteel; University of Cambridge |
| Aluminium | Uncoated scrap goes straight into a remelter furnace. Coated scrap first goes through a gas-fired rotary furnace to remove the coating. The melt is cast into ingots at just over 700 degrees Celsius. | Aluminium Council |
| Copper | Copper Association members introduce scrap into the smelting process. Clean scrap is converted along with copper into wire, rod, tube, sheet and strip. Refined copper cathode is generally 99.9% pure. | International Copper Association; copper life cycle |
Source: the organisations linked in each row, all checked 2 October 2026.
Recycled steel keeps the properties of the original steel and can make any new steel product, says worldsteel. The Australian Aluminium Council says you can recycle aluminium again and again without losing its properties. The International Copper Association says secondary copper has the same performance properties as primary copper.
How much energy does recycling save?
Making metal from scrap uses far less energy than making it from ore. The Bureau of International Recycling (BIR) lists these savings, taken from its own study.
| Metal | Energy saved | CO2 saved | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aluminium | More than 95% | More than 92% | BIR |
| Copper | More than 85% | More than 65% | BIR |
| Steel and iron | More than 74% | More than 58% | BIR |
| Zinc | More than 60% | More than 76% | BIR |
| Lead | More than 65% | More than 99% | BIR |
Source: Bureau of International Recycling, which cites its study on the environmental benefits of recycling (2009 edition). Checked 2 October 2026.
Newer figures for single metals agree. The Australian Aluminium Council published International Aluminium Institute data on 10 October 2024. For 2019 it shows 8.3 gigajoules a tonne from scrap against 186 from ore, a saving of 95.5%. The International Copper Association says recycled copper needs 85 percent less energy than primary production.
Worldsteel says each tonne of steel scrap used avoids 1.5 tonnes of CO2 and 1.4 tonnes of iron ore. About 650 million tonnes of scrap goes into steelmaking a year, against 1,869 million tonnes of crude steel (worldsteel, May 2021).
What are the limits of metal recycling?
Recycling is not a closed loop with no losses. Each figure above measures something different, so do not mix them up.
| Limit | What it means | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Contamination | Copper and tin cannot be refined out of steel in a furnace, so they build up over generations of steel. Worldsteel says steelmakers manage copper by sorting and dilution. Iron in aluminium can make it unfit for some high-tech uses. | University of Cambridge; worldsteel |
| Exports | More than 95% of Australia's scrap aluminium is exported. Smelters here are generally unable to safely accept used aluminium, because its make-up is unknown and it can be contaminated. | Aluminium Council |
| Metal not collected | 40 percent of copper is recycled at the end of a product's life, and 56 percent when factory scrap is counted. Steel products last about 40 years on average, so scrap is scarce. | International Copper Association; worldsteel |
| Losses in complex products | Some toxic metals, such as cadmium and cobalt, and precious metals, such as gold and palladium, end up in landfill inside electronic waste. | National waste report 2024 |
| Processing footprint | Emissions from on-site fossil fuels or electricity can be high in some processes, especially scrap metal processing. The report also says recycling's carbon benefits are particularly strong for metals. | National waste report 2024 |
| Market swings | Metal recycling is sensitive to global metals prices. More metal comes out of scrap yards, factories and farms when prices rise. | National waste report 2022; 2024 report |
| Slippery statistics | "Percent recycled" can mean the share of available scrap that is recycled, or the share of production made from recycled metal. Compare like with like. | University of Cambridge |
Source: the organisations linked in each row, all checked 2 October 2026.
What does this mean for your scrap?
Every stage rewards sorted, dry metal that is free of non-metal, because it is easier to recycle and to price. The preparation guide shows how to sort and what to leave out. The identification guide helps you tell metals apart, and what scrap metal is worth the most explains value. For unfamiliar words, see the glossary. To sell your own scrap, see how scrap metal recycling in Brisbane works with Forge Recyclers, or use the quote page. Forge Recyclers replies with what to do next.
Frequently asked questions
Is scrap metal recyclable?
Yes. Recyclers can melt and reuse steel, aluminium, copper, brass and stainless steel. Australia recovered about 90% of its metal waste in 2022-23, according to the national waste report. The limits are practical: contamination, mixed materials and the cost of collecting and sorting.
Is metal really infinitely recyclable?
Industry bodies say you can recycle aluminium and copper again and again without losing their properties. Worldsteel says recycled steel keeps the properties of the original. In practice the quality of the output depends on how well the recycler sorts the scrap, so infinite describes the metal, not every tonne of scrap.
What is the difference between ferrous and non-ferrous scrap when recycling?
Ferrous scrap contains iron, and magnets lift it out. Non-ferrous scrap, such as aluminium, copper and brass, does not stick to a magnet. Recyclers separate it with other methods, including eddy current machines and analysers, and they melt and refine the two kinds differently.
Where does Australia's scrap metal go?
The national waste report estimates that Australia exported 43% of its recovered metals in 2022-23, including all aluminium. Scrap metal made up 64% of Australia's waste exports. The main destinations were Bangladesh, Indonesia, India, Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia.
Does recycling metal really save energy?
Yes, but how much depends on the metal. International Aluminium Institute data for 2019, published by the Australian Aluminium Council, puts the saving for aluminium at 95.5%. The International Copper Association says recycled copper needs 85 percent less energy than primary production. Melting still uses energy, so the saving is large but not free.
Sources
- National waste and resource recovery report 2024 (Final, 20 January 2025), Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (checked 2 October 2026)
- National Waste Report 2022 (Final 1.2, December 2022, updated 10 February 2023), Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (checked 2 October 2026)
- Recycling, Australian Aluminium Council (checked 2 October 2026)
- Recycling aluminium in five steps, Australian Aluminium Council (checked 2 October 2026)
- Aluminium recycling saves 95% of the energy needed for primary aluminium production (IAI factsheet claim 2, published 10 October 2024), Australian Aluminium Council (checked 2 October 2026)
- Scrap use in the steel industry, fact sheet (May 2021), worldsteel (checked 2 October 2026)
- Raw materials, scrap section, worldsteel (checked 2 October 2026)
- Circular economy, International Copper Association (checked 2 October 2026)
- Copper life cycle, International Copper Association (checked 2 October 2026)
- Recycling, International Copper Association (checked 2 October 2026)
- Recycling of Metals teaching and learning package, University of Cambridge (DoITPoMS) (checked 2 October 2026)
- A to Z of metal recycling, British Metals Recycling Association (checked 2 October 2026)
- The industry, Bureau of International Recycling (BIR) (checked 2 October 2026)
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