No builder likes to let materials go to waste. But in the process of cutting, shaping, and working with your materials, you still may find that you have a few leftovers—and that’s not even counting power tools. Leftover scrap metal is heavy, unwieldy, and takes up valuable storage space, and taking what’s left to the dumpster means a total loss when it comes to expenses. Fortunately, with conservation-minded strategies for disposing of metal on your construction site, no material ever truly goes to waste. You may be getting leftover metal off the premises, but rest assured it’ll end up being put to good use—even including those worn-out tools.

Transport To the Yard

Upon completion of a project, you should always clean up on your way out. Sometimes, you may find that some of what you’ve taken back with you may have been better off left behind—dead power tools, motors, and components that have reached the ends of their useful lives. If your power tools have burned or your have metal that can be picked up with a scrap yard magnet, the first thing you should do is recoup some of their value by heading to the scrap yard to see what you can get. Even hard-working tools still contain useful metals that can be melted down and reprocessed, saving us from needing to mine more metals.

Call for Pickup

At the end of a construction job, you may just want to pack up and go. But there’s still the matter of the leftover metal, and you may want to save a trip to the scrap yard. After all, loading up all that leftover piping, ductwork, sheet metal, rebar, and siding can add up to a lot of time and space. Don’t bring it to the yard when you can bring the yard to you. If you can find a scrap dealer who is willing to meet you on site to pick up your scrap and pay on the spot, you’ve really struck gold—or at least quality stainless steel. On-site pickup saves paperwork, expenses, time, and energy, and is the ideal solution to your metal-disposal problem.

Either Way…

Whether you can arrange for recyclers to collect your leftover metal or you must bring it there yourself, know that responsibly disposing of metal on your construction site is the right option. Don’t send your leftover metal to the landfill. There’s only so much metal out there, and with all the work and energy it takes to dig it out of the earth, there’s no sense in putting it back in.

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