The pile of scrap metal which you were all so interested in yesterday morning was loaded onto the Evangelistria Skopelou this frigid afternoon. Destined for Volos, it will be consolidated and taken to a reprocessing plant for reuse. Unlike plastics which degrade over time, ferrous metal retains its original atomic structure.
Sending steel
March 16, 2013 by skopelosnews
We have had an atomic structure on Skopelos ??????????? Does this mean we need to build shelters ? – just in case
I guess that would be crystalline structure, except for the rusty oxide parts that would have acquired a different crystalline structure and molecular composition. The bottom line is, some plastic can be recycled but as to undergo more elaborate transformation than steel, which can be simply melted back and reshaped.
Thanks for that, Ronan. What I would be interested to find out, as a non-metallurgist kinda guy, is what items of domestic refuse – from tin cans to large appliances – might be usefully diverted into this trade, rather than taking up space in landfill? None? Lots? Some? And maybe someone knows if the municipality does this already (which, given staffing shortages, I doubt)?
Take a look at what is being shipped off the island in the earlier post – http://skopelosnews.wordpress.com/2013/03/15/scrap-metal/
Parts of old kitchen appliances appear to be in the drivers seat of the auto on the left. The rest is fencing, parts of bed springs and frames, radiators etc.
As the post says recycling metal has been the work of Gypsies for a long time however it doesn’t seem to be done in any organized way. The locals throw the stuff over a cliff and the Gypsies find it, haul it up and take it away.
The gypsies bring the metal to the shipper who, I suppose, pays them.
My guess is that the municipality has nothing to do with this.
One idea would be for the municipality to work in conjunction with the Gypsy families and schedule metal collection days when people could put their old stoves etc in the road. Then the Gypsies could take it away and earn a small profit.
Tin-plated steel containers (“Tin” cans) may or may not fit into the mix.
Skiathos has been organized by Green Fox to recycle aluminum cans.
‘Tin can’ was merely, ah, metaphor for the thing what you get baked beans in, which I guess is aluminium. Not that Mrs Miniver allows that many canned goods in the larder, but if there’s a better way of disposing of them, cleaned, that would be good.
I do not know too much about recycling of metal, but it seems to me that large appliances, aluminum cans, pcv plastic can all be recycled rather than occupy space in the landfill. Another aspect that is quite bulky is vegetal kitchen scraps. In Vienna, we recycle what austrians call “bioton”. Essentially foodscraps. I am amazed to see that in volume this is the majority of our domestic garbage on a daily basis. This composts very well, becomes excellent fertilizer, and should be valuable to farmers and plant nursery owners on the island. It requires a bit of up-front organization in each household, but nothing very heavy.