The study of the recycling pattern metals in Malaysia / Ahmad Faris Mohd Salleh and Omar Bapokutty

In the middle ages, alchemists tried to tum base metals into gold. In recent times, newspaper articles have turned into a cliche the idea that recycling (processing material for reuse) is a modem form of alchemy, turning waste into gold. Recycling is valued as the equivalent of gold in some cultures. In Mexico, for example, as in other Latin and South American countries, the pepenadores have lived for years near landfills and by birthright, picked certain materials from the trash to sell for some form of reuse. 'Nor' is recycling new. The Romans who pulled the stone from the Coliseum to pave highways were pioneers in C & D (Construction & Demolition) recycling. The Germanic hero Siegfried, as portrayed in Richard Wagner's operatic ring cycle, rather than patching his great sword, melted it down and reforged it. He was practising metal recycling. The steel industry in Malaysia has almost always recycled its old steel. What is new in the late twentieth century is the fervour is due to concern about the environment, conserving our resources and the lack of landfill space in Malaysia. Recycling is easy to understand, something new is made out of something old. It is not thrown away, it is reused.