This blog was originally published in March 2012 and has been recently updated in April 2022.

As a Los Angeles homeowner, you need to be constantly on alert. Not only do you have to make sure your plumbing, AC, electrical systems, and appliances are all working properly but you have to maintain a level of security. This doesn’t mean staying on 24-hour watch but just taking common-sense precautions when it comes to locking your doors and windows. Hopefully, you live in a community where the neighbors watch out for each other. This approach was helpful to the police recently when they arrested a Los Angeles man suspected of stealing thousands of dollars of scrap metal from area businesses.

What happened was that this suspect was driving around in his pickup truck asking folks if they had any scrap metal. Apparently what he was really doing was scouting potential spots for theft. One such spot was a business that reported an overnight break-in. What went missing were ten spools of wire and industrial-grade drilling equipment that was valued at over $24,000. Neighbors told police about the suspicious character looking for scrap metal and provided them with a description of his truck. Later, that same vehicle was spotted, and when searched the stolen items were found. It’s a case right out of “Dragnet!”

All of this points out the need to get rid of any scrap metal or other junk you might have around your property. By keeping this stuff piled up outdoors you’re basically telling a would-be thief that you don’t care what’s going on. At the very least it shows you’re taking your eye off the ball and opening yourself up to a potential crime. This is not to say that every pick-up piled with junk you see driving around town is up to no good. On the other hand, if a truck like that drives by your home several times to see a pile of scrap metal just sitting there it might prove to be too tempting of a target. There is a better way and that’s hiring a crew of professional junk haulers like Junk King Los Angeles to get rid of your scrap metal or other junk.

Hiring a professional team like Junk King means you’ll be getting workers who are experienced and well trained. More importantly, they’ll also be licensed and insured. You’re not going to get that same level of professionalism with someone who randomly drives by your home. The professional junk haulers are also trained to handle a removal job like this which could be potentially hazardous. If you’re dealing with scrap metal then you’re also dealing with sharp edges. Let the pros handle something like this.

As long as you’re inviting these pros to remove scrap metal, you can also get them to take away any other clutter you’ve got. This can be anything in your home or garage that is just collecting dust and rust. Surely, you’ve got a few items that would fall into that category!

What You Need to Know About Scrap Metal Removal in Los Angeles

Think about all the different uses of metal that we rely on every day of our lives. From the exterior of the vehicles we drive, to the metal roofing protecting our homes from the elements, to the precious metals inside our computers, phones, TVs, and other electronics, our society is extremely reliant on metals in order to continue to function the way it does.

What many people do not realize, however, is that it takes an enormous amount of energy to mine, manufacture, and produce the end products that are made out of different types of metals. For example, each ton of new steel has typically required about 6 MWh of energy in the process of getting from iron ore to a finished steel product, such as that which is for making the exteriors of cars. This doesn’t include the energy requirements of mining the steel in the first place or the process of transporting heavy metal objects long distances.

One way to drastically reduce the energy footprint of metal objects we use is to purchase items made from recycled metals. Unlike many types of plastics which are essentially “un-recyclable” due to recent changes in China and other Asian countries no longer accepting plastic waste, metals are almost universally recyclable.

In this short article, we´ll take a look at the issue of scrap metal waste in the United States, and the opportunities for increasing scrap metal recycling as a way to reduce our collective carbon footprint. We will then explain why Junk King Los Angeles offers the best way to help individuals, homeowners, and businesses in Los Angeles get rid of their scrap metal waste in an efficient and environmentally friendly manner.

Statistics on Scrap Metal Waste in the United States

Despite the fact that metals are one of the easiest materials to recycle, there is still an enormous amount of metal materials that are sent every year to landfills across the country. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), “the total amount of MSW ferrous metals combusted in 2018 was 2.3 million tons. This was 6.7 percent of all MSW combusted with energy recovery that year. In 2018, landfills received 10.5 million tons of steel. This was 7.2 percent of all MSW landfilled.”

On the bright side, steel is the most recycled material in the United States and steel products can be recycled repeatedly without loss of strength or viability. One industry leader in scrap metal recycling reports that “recycling steel saves the equivalent energy to power about 18 million households for a year…More than 80 million tons of steel are recycled each year in North America. For every ton of steel recycled, 2,500 pounds of iron ore, 1,400 pounds of coal, and 120 pounds of limestone are conserved.”

Even though recycling steel and other metals comes with enormous environmental and economic advantages, steel and iron only had a 47 percent recycling rate in the United States in 2019. Copper´s recycling rate stood at just 34 percent despite a drastic increase in price for this important metal, and aluminum was only slightly better at a 51 percent recycling rate. These statistics show that we still have a long way to go towards reducing the amount of metal ending up in our nation´s landfills.

For many businesses and individuals, one of the biggest challenges that comes with recycling scrap metal is that most metal items are heavy, bulky, and potentially dangerous to move. Unless you have a large pickup truck capable of hauling a trailer to the nearest scrap metal recycling center, chances are that you may not know how to get rid of your scrap metal in an environmentally responsible way.

Fortunately, Junk King Los Angeles offers the most efficient and affordable way to deal with large and bulky scrap metal metals. Instead of trying to send your scrap metal waste out with your regular trash pickup, hiring a crew of professional junk haulers like Junk King Los Angeles to get rid of your scrap metal or other junk is a much easier option.

Why Hire Junk King Los Angeles for your Scrap Metal Removal Needs?

Here at Junk King Los Angeles, we make every effort to accommodate our clients who might not be able to lift, carry, or haul heavy scrap metal items on their own. Some examples of common household scrap metal waste include:

• Old aluminum siding
• Aluminum and steel doors or window frames
• Appliances
• Automobile parts
• Bed frames and mattress springs
• Bicycles
• Cast iron sinks and bathtubs

All of these items are heavy, sometimes sharp, and potentially dangerous to move on your own. Instead of struggling to take these items out to the curbside, here at Junk King Los Angeles, we are here to help you do the heavy lifting and hauling. For clients who prefer a “no-contact” junk removal service, you can also simply leave your junk on your driveway or the curb in front of your home or business, and we can haul away your scrap metal waste without ever entering your home or residence.

Furthermore, we here at Junk King believe wholeheartedly that everyone should play a part in caring for our environment. Whereas many junk removal companies choose the easy route of simply hauling the junk items they pick up directly to the local dump, we are proud to say that we recycle, donate, or otherwise repurpose at least 60 percent of the junk items that we pick up.

Over several years of working in the junk removal industry, we have developed a huge network of relationships with recycling companies, thrift stores, and other organizations that allow us to give your junk another “life.” For scrap metal items, we work with several scrap metal recyclers in the region to ensure that almost all of your metal items are either repurposed or recycled, instead of being landfilled.

For environmentally-conscious homeowners, individuals, and business owners in the Los Angeles area, hiring Junk King is your best strategy to do your part to reduce your waste footprint. We offer our green, scrap metal junk removal services to the following Los Angeles areas: Arcadia, Beverly Hills, Burbank, Carson, Compton, Covina, Downey, Glendale, Inglewood, Lakewood, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Norwalk, Pasadena, Rancho Cucamonga, San Pedro, and Whittier.