The Environmental Impact of Strip Mining

One of the more obvious advantages of taking your metal clutter to a scrap yard in Detroit is that it lessens the environmental impact of mining raw materials as well as refines metals for reuse with various products. It also helps to preserve energy resources and reduces the amount of energy spent to produce the same products from raw materials.

The manufacture of products from recycled alloys, steel, lead, copper, cobalt, tin, and other materials does not release nearly as much greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Despite the contrary claims of a minority of skeptics, the scientific consensus is that greenhouse gases have a deleterious environmental impact that can lead to climate change and high levels of chemical pollution which, in some cases, have been proven to have extremely adverse health effects on entire populations.

Strip mining involves the destruction of vegetation, as well as the use of dangerous and toxic chemicals. Mining ore and other metals not only can contaminate the soil and produce gases that create climate change and health concerns, but it also has the potential to eventually devastate rivers and destroy entire ecosystems. Cyanide and other toxins that are used in some mining operations infiltrate rivers, contaminating and killing much of the life within. Millions of cyanide-laden fish are destroyed or contaminated, and the biodiversity of the ecosystem can be fundamentally annihilated.

Many metal products take hundreds, if not thousands (and in some cases, millions) of years to decompose, and areas used for landfills are increasingly diminishing and presenting an additional danger to environmental health. Recycling metal scraps by selling them to a scrap yard saves landfill space for other types of waste that is less likely to be toxic and may decompose more quickly.

Not only does taking your excess or unwanted metal to a scrap yard in Detroit reduce the environmental impact of producing new products from raw materials, but it also conserves both energy and ore. For every pound of aluminum that is recycled, four pounds of ore is saved for future use. Moreover, recycling impacts unemployment rates by producing almost forty times the number of jobs that traditional mining operations use.

Detroit refines and uses tons of metal every year, which keeps the local scrap yard busy collecting and reselling various metals by weight. Both commercial management and individual programs are available in order to help businesses and residents live more green, reduce negative environmental impact, and protect our future generations.


Scrap Yard Detroit – Your local scrap yard in Detroit is doing its part to protect the environment. Are you? Let us tell you how. Call Renu Recycling, southwest Michigan’s premiere metal-broker and processor at 313.531.4009 or visit us online at website for more information.

Author: Victoria Garcia

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