Metals

Stainless Steel

Stainless Steel is an alloy of steel, nickel, and at least 10.5% chromium.  Due to the environmental impacts of mining and production the cadmium and the minerals to make steel, virgin stainless steel is not a green product.  Stainless steel typically contains 65 to 80 percent recycled content- up to 100 percent is available- and it's fully recyclable.  All stainless steel products are 100% recyclable and have value even after a very long life as capital goods or consumer products.  The stainless steel that is processed in the electric furnace is of the same quality as the original and is not "downgraded" as is the case with some other so-called recycled materials.

Aluminum

Aluminum is extracted from bauxite ore found in tropical and subtropical areas.  Aluminum has one of the highest levels of embodied energy for a building material because of its extensive processing.  Aluminum scrap processing requires only 5% of the energy that aluminum extraction requires.  The most common aluminum scrap is aluminum cans, but cars, building materials, and appliances are also sources.  In addition to the low energy use to recycle, repeated recycling does not decrease the quality of the aluminum.