The high costs of raw materials, energy, and environmental protection impose an absolute reduction in the useof non-recyclable raw materials.
Brass offers excellent recyclability, as follows:
- Scraps:
swarf and burrs from hot forging and turning get entirely re-utilized, maintaining a value that, as opposed to other metals, is not by much inferior to the price of the utilized semi-finished product. As a consequence and proof of this, the processing contracts are widely used in this sector: this means that the scraps (swarf and burrs) are processed and transformed into a new semi-finished productby the manufacturer, and this just atthe processing cost;therefore, if you bother to do the math, the apparently higher price of semi-finished products is in many casesmuch lower compared to other metals or raw materials, whose recycling is more difficult and therefore more expensive;
- Energy:
the high thermal conductivity of brass, the use of electrical induction furnaces with very high yields results in limited energy expenditure, which for example is less than half of that required to produce one kilogram of steel;
- Environmental compatibility:
the melting technologies used produce a low environmental impact that can be totally controlled, and also in this case the by products are entirely recycled in a cost-effective way.