T-shirts made of plastic bottles. Bowls made of old vinyl records. These are just a couple of the many recycled products consumers can now find in stores across the country. However, we’re betting that few consumers, when asked to name the largest recycling opportunities available, would think of scrap metal demolition. Montana, Colorado and Arizona project managers are becoming more and more aware, however, of how yesterday’s steel construction materials can be reused for tomorrow’s buildings and bridges – thereby greatly reducing the need for virgin construction materials.
Considering that the U.S. creates upwards of 136 million tons of construction waste annually, figuring out how to recycle construction materials such as steel can have a huge impact on how much trash we create every year.
Scrap Metal Recycling Demolition & the Reuse of Structural Steel
Today’s demolition projects are often required by the owner to recycle 90-95 percent of the construction materials from a building site. Scrap metal is one of the easiest materials to reuse, since metal doesn’t lose its strength when recycled. As such, scrap metal brings a high resale value, a natural motivator for scrap metal demolition. Montana’s Missoulian newspaper reported that “scrap metal prices range from $150 to $200 a ton.” It just makes good financial sense to recycle scrap metal. Recycling demolition materials can significantly offset the cost of demolition.
Elder Demolition is one of the largest scrap metal recycling firms in the West. We have powerful magnetic tools to accelerate the process of scrap metal demolition. Colorado, Montana and Arizona buildings have all succumbed to our industrial shears, able to slice through ¾-inch steel beams. These are used to remove rebar from concrete (which we also recycle into gravel). These Samsonian tools enable us to process thousands of tons of steel annually for recycling. One of our recent projects, the dismantling of the Goldendale Aluminum Plant, involved 35,000 tons of structural steel.
Overall, construction refuse makes up 40 percent of our country’s solid waste. Recycling the steel “skeletons” of structures is an excellent way to protect the earth – while also offsetting demolition costs. When looking for an expert in scrap metal demolition, Colorado and Montana project managers can entrust the job to us.