What is residential metal scrap?

Metal is a fundamental and crucial component of our economy. Metal can be found throughout each and every Canadian home. Some of it is hidden in the walls like pipes, wires and ducts; other metal is more visible, including appliances, doors and window frames. Some of the more common metals are aluminum, brass, bronze, copper, lead, magnesium, precious metals, stainless steel, steel and iron, tin and zinc - all of these are recyclable once the material or product has reached the end of its current life cycle!

Metal and metal-bearing household items can be divided into several groups:

• Large appliances (commonly referred to as "white goods") include refrigerators, stoves, dishwashers, dryers, clothes washers, and hot-water heaters.
• Other large household metal scrap items include bicycles, barbeques, patio or deck furniture, doors, window frames, large automotive parts, ladders, ironing boards, and aluminum siding. Microwaves and air conditioners may be handled as white goods or as other large metal scrap items.
• Smaller residential metal scrap can be sub-divided into two categories: the metal items in Table 1 and the metal-bearing items in Table 2.

Table 1: Some Small Resid

Table 2:
Some Small Residential Metal-Bearing Scrap Items

How much metal scrap is discarded?

This is a difficult number to nail down. According to a March 2004 survey conducted by the Association of Municipal Recycling Coordinators (AMRC) for the Enhanced Recycling Program (Government of Canada Action Plan 2000 on Climate Change), the amount of small residential metal scrap typically discarded ranges from 2 to 44 kilograms per household per year (kg/hh/yr).

To illustrate how inconsistent the data can be, a compilation of provincial figures ("other metal," "other ferrous" or "other nonferrous" disposed of) provides the following variations: 8 kg/hh/yr in BC¹, 13-14 kg/hh/yr in Saskatchewan², 4 kg/hh/yr in Manitoba³, 5-9 kg/hh/yr in Ontario⁴, and 3 kg/hh/yr in Nova Scotia⁵. In this context, it is likely that the definition of residential "scrap metal" is not standardized, nor is the methodology for measurement consistent from one jurisdiction to the next.

When planning a waste audit, keep the markets in mind. Contact a local scrap yard to find out what kinds of metal materials are worth looking for in the municipal waste stream. At a minimum, the distinction between nonferrous and ferrous metal is an important one to make because of their different values (see below). A closer look at the nonferrous materials would be aluminum, copper and other. To conduct a waste audit in your own community, reference should be made to the standardized approaches that are available at the following sites:

• Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment: www.ccme.ca
• Waste Diversion Ontario at www.wdo.ca (under "Other Reports," then "to review these reports click here," and then scroll to the bottom and "Miscellaneous" for the "Residential Curbside Waste Audit Guide").
• British Columbia Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection, see Section 58(5) regarding the "Procedural Manual for Municipal Solid Waste Composition Analysis": http://env.gov.bc.ca/epd/. Copies of this report must be ordered through the ministry's regional offices.

For the purposes of approximating the amount of residential scrap metal (excluding white goods) disposed in any given community, a range of 10-20 kg/hh/yr will suffice. At this rate, it is estimated that Canadians discard between 116 000 and 232 000 tonnes of household scrap metal or metal-bearing products every year but, given data variability, the total amount could be much more⁶.

What is the market like for residential scrap metal?

The market for scrap metal is global and highly competitive. As such, prices fluctuate according to supply and demand. For example, high demand from China in 2003 and 2004 pushed scrap prices up to unforeseen heights. Market forces and some foreign government interventions resulted in a decline in prices in mid-2004. However, elevated international scrap prices do not always get passed down through the market chain, particularly where the scrap is being collected in a relatively remote location or where a scrap yard has a local monopoly.

To identify a scrap dealer near you (or to get your dealership registered), consult the Canadian Metals Recycling Database at http://www.nrcan.gc.ca/mms-smm/busi-indu/rec-rec-eng.htm .

In general, nonferrous scrap (e.g., aluminum and copper) is worth much more than ferrous scrap. If the average value of mixed scrap in Canada was $100 per tonne, then $11.6-$23.2 million in revenue is being lost annually. At $300 per tonne, this lost potential revenue estimate would triple to $34.8-$69.6 million.

While the best source of information regarding market prices is the local scrap dealer, four Internet sources of information regarding the value of scrap metal may be useful:

• Natural Resources Canada publishes the Canadian Minerals Yearbook (http://www.nrcan-rncan.gc.ca/mms-smm/busi-indu/cmy-amc/com-eng.htm), which includes various mineral and metal commodity reviews (look for the "Prices" section under specific material types)
• Corporations Supporting Recycling publishes a monthly "Price Sheet" for the common residential recyclables. Check out the historical and recent values at their web site at www.csr.org (under "Publications").
• Statistics Canada also publishes the Raw Materials Price Index, which reflects price trends for key raw materials ( www.statcan.ca/english/Pgdb/prim43a.htm).
• The London Metal Exchange has a web site located at www.lme.co.uk/dataprices.asp where historical and present nonferrous metals market commodity prices can be found.

If you know where other recyclable metal prices can be accessed, please let us know and we will post the information on this site.