Scrap

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Scrap consists of recyclable materials, usually metals, left over from product manufacturing and consumption, such as parts of vehicles, building supplies, and surplus materials. Unlike waste, scrap has monetary value, especially recovered metals, and non-metallic materials are also recovered for recycling. Once collected, the materials are sorted into types — typically metal scrap will be crushed, shredded, and sorted using mechanical processes.

Scrap recycling is important for creating a more sustainable economy or creating a circular economy, using significantly less energy, the scrap recycling industry is a significant source of employment, from collection and processing to manufacturing using recycled materials and having far less environmental impact than producing metal from ore. Metal recycling, especially of structural steel, ships, used manufactured goods, such as vehicles and white goods, is a major industrial activity with complex networks of wrecking yards, sorting facilities, and recycling plants. The industry includes both formal organizations and a wide range of informal roles, with waste pickers and other informal economy roles around the world playing a critical role in sorting through scrap.