Metal recycling, the environment and human health

摘要

The Black Country in central England was the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution. It is an area where coal, iron ore and lime was readily available and where iron had been produced in a primitive fashion since the Iron Age period. A local journalist stated in 1952 "It is this iron more than any other single factor that has changed the face of the locality from the smiling youthfulness of unspoilt country to the familiar toil-worn countenance of today". The land at that time was contaminated with coal pit banks, slag heaps and the waste of heavy industry, the air when full production was taking place was heavily polluted and the watercourses and rivers were the most polluted in the land. The avoidance of pollution caused by metal extraction and production makes it a high priority to recycle as much metal as practical. The