Magnesium recycling in the United States in 1998

As concern for the environment has grown in recent years, the
importance of recycling has become more evident. The more materials that are recycled,
the fewer natural resources will be consumed and the fewer waste products will end up in
landfills, the water, and the air. As one of a series of reports on metals recycling, this
report discusses the 1998 flow of magnesium in the United States from extraction
through its uses with particular emphasis on recycling. In 1998, the recycling efficiency
for magnesium was estimated to be 33 percent--almost 60 percent of the magnesium that
was recycled came from new scrap, primarily waste from die-casting operations. The
principal source of old scrap was recycled aluminum beverage cans.