Decontamination and recovery of metal packaging (R4)

Metal drums, canisters and other metal packaging used in industry often still contain residual material or contamination after being emptied. For this reason they cannot simply be placed with other metal waste and recycled directly. The first step in treatment is therefore decontamination, that is, the removal of the remaining contaminants. The cleaned metal can then be handled safely and recovered. New products can be made from metal of suitable quality, so it can return to manufacturing as a valuable raw material. For some containers, conversion or further processing is also possible. The aim is that the material of a good-quality metal drum or other packaging should not be wasted simply because an industrial substance was once stored in it. Decontamination also makes the further handling and processing of the containers safer. Recovering the metal reduces the demand for newly extracted raw materials and means that less waste goes to disposal. In this way, previously contaminated packaging can become valuable metal raw material once again.