According to Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries Inc (ISRI), Scrap recycling is an $87 billion industry in the United States that annually transforms more than 130 million metric tons of scrap metal, paper, plastics, glass, electronics, textiles, and rubber from commercials, residences, and industrial sources into useful raw materials that are essential to the manufacture of new products. Last year, the U.S. scrap industry processed 77 million metric tons of ferrous scrap, valued at $26.3 billion, the most recycled material in the U.S. and worldwide. In terms of volume, nonferrous scrap including aluminum, copper, lead, nickel, tin, zinc, and other metals made up less than 10 percent of the total quantity of materials recycled in the U.S. last year, but by value, nonferrous scrap accounted for nearly half of the total U.S. scrap recycling industry earnings totaling nearly $43 billion in 2014.

View the 2014 ISRI Annual Report here: http://www.scrap2.org/annualreport/