ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with the history of recycling of solid wastes in the US, and it most logically begins with the recycling of metals. Metal's physical properties allowed it to be shaped readily into tools, utensils, and weapons. Intertwined with the growing importance of metal in our civilization is the growth of the industry that enabled metal makers to reuse the surplus material left over in the manufacturing process and reclaimed from obsolete objects. By the 1820s, the growing demand for metal products had already produced a surplus of products which were worn out or discarded. Chisels and sledge hammers were used to break apart the larger metal objects. Even the force of freezing water was used by early scrap processors, who would pour water into the cracks of cast pieces and wait for the freezing water to break the metal apart. In the 1960s, regeneration of metal products through the scrap metal industry was on the decline.
