Non-Ferrous Scrap Metals

What are non-ferrous metals?

In metallurgy, a non-ferrous metal is any metal, including alloys, that does not contain iron in significant amounts. Non-ferrous metals are generally more expensive than ferrous metals and are used for their desirable properties, such as low weight (aluminium), high conductivity (copper), non-magnetic behaviour, and resistance to corrosion (zinc). Some non-ferrous materials are also used in the production of ferrous alloys, for example bauxite as a flux for blast furnaces, or wolframite, pyrolusite, and chromite in steelmaking.

Important non-ferrous metals include aluminium, copper, lead, nickel, tin, titanium, zinc, and alloys such as brass. Precious metals such as gold, silver, and platinum, and rare or exotic metals such as cobalt, mercury, tungsten, beryllium, bismuth, cerium, cadmium, niobium, indium, gallium, germanium, lithium, selenium, tantalum, tellurium, vanadium, and zirconium are also non-ferrous.

Can non-ferrous metals be recycled?

Non-ferrous metals are widely recycled due to their extensive industrial use. Secondary materials from scrap are vital to the metallurgy industry, as the production of new metals often depends on them. Recycling facilities typically re-smelt and recast non-ferrous materials. By-products such as dross are collected and stored, while metal fumes are filtered and captured. Non-ferrous scrap metals are sourced from industrial scrap, particle emissions, and obsolete technology (for example, copper cables). Precious non-ferrous metals are usually sourced from jewellery, electronics, and used industrial catalysts.

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