News & Insights

Protecting values in your metals

Metal

We help you to unlock the material loop

Many industries purchase and use exclusive and expensive metals for large amounts. Values on their way from purchasing to production waste often reduce through incorrect handling. Here, Stena Recycling shares some actions that enable you to release hidden economic values throughout the material loop.

At the same time, you will strengthen your circular business profile and care for the planet’s finite resources.

Larger version of the process infographic is available for download in the sidebar

Expensive metal purchases can be low-value scrap

Industries use metals in the form of raw materials that are processed or components. In larger companies, metal handling can be worth hundreds of millions when purchase prices and scrap values are added together.

There are, for example, exclusive metals that can cost SEK 55.000-60.000 per tonne in the purchase, but the value can be degraded significantly when it occurs as production waste. The secret is to handle and sort metals correctly in each step.

The economy goes hand in hand with climate work

Most industries also have ambitious goals when it comes to environmental and climate work. By protecting metal values in the best way (instead of mixing and complicating), important circular values are created where the materials are useful for better products in their next product life. It can often even be a strength to show off to other industries you collaborate with, which places sustainability requirements on you as a subcontractor.

Now let’s go through the whole loop, and we start in your industrial environment. Let us give some essential tips on protecting metal values throughout the chain while maximizing climate benefits.

Smart from start in your daily business

Purchase and design

Do you need all the different metals used for your packaging and products? Why does it look like it does with you? Sometimes a large variety of metals, plastics, and other materials of old habits are used by product designers and buyers.

Actions

Is there a possibility to sift out certain types of material in production, which makes sorting more difficult and complicates recycling value?
Review your product development - what can you do more before developing new products?

A classic dilemma might be that metals with a specific alloy give the product the right properties when used by the consumer - but later, it becomes tricky to recycle and sell. Here, product features might be set against recyclability. A valuable metal can then become material with a lower value as scrap. Upcycling, instead of downcycling, is the right path to ensure steady quality and analyses through collaboration.

Optimize hot spots in production

A variety of employees usually handles the industry’s materials: for example, truck drivers, warehouse workers, fitters, and facility management staff. By controlling the routines for them, you can ensure that metal values are not lost. Mixed metals can otherwise cause losses because of waste sorting that is not optimized. The better homogeneous material qualities can be kept apart by you, the greater values you can protect when the metal waste is recycled and sold as new raw material.

Actions

Identify important locations where metals are handled and sorted. Ensure that different qualities are not mixed with others, thus maintaining a high-quality assurance material.
Train the staff in the correct waste sorting, so they do the right thing at the source. Remember to involve everyone if you work shifts, and use hired staff, or handles staff turnover.
Optimize collection equipment closely. The easier it is for employees to sort correctly at work, the easier it is to sort metals correctly.

Ensure a clear marking for source sorting on vessels so that metals are not sorted incorrectly.

Transparency a key to improve

Your material choices are of great importance for how well the financial values can be protected later in the value chain.

Actions

Analyze if your purchased alloys make a difference for your production processes and final product? Is it possible to replace one alloy with another that is more attractive in front of raw material purchasers? Let’s discuss how specific metal needs can meet raw material market demands.
Organize your optimal collection and storage solution. Are there ways to streamline the collection, transport, and end treatment?
The more we understand and share information, the better possibilities to sell the material to the right buyer, utilizing the material’s characteristics at a high level, and paying the highest value.

The recycling potential and sales

Stena Recycling has invested billions over the years in developing recycling processes so that the recycling rate increases. This can apply to metals that are production waste, discarded products or occur during demolition work and more.

Products that have been discarded are an example that often reaches a fragmentation plant where you can use advanced technology to sort and then sell the material to the right buyer in the market.

Actions

Collaborate with a recycler who pays correctly for the quality you succeed in achieving in production.
By sorting correctly at the source, you avoid claims and lower compensation because the deliveries do not concur with what has been agreed.
Strive for the highest recycling rate. It provides the most significant climate benefit.
Choose a recycler who has an international network of proven sales channel options.
Avoid selling metals on your own directly to raw material buyers. There are very few industries that still do it today. It is risky and far away from their core business. And the more metal values, the greater the risk of sitting with unsold stocks during economic fluctuations. Stena Recycling has raw material buyers in over 50 countries, ensuring sales of the raw materials regardless of market conditions.