The history of centralized collection and recycling of ferrous metals in Russia, according to available documents, began 99 years ago. In the Decree of the Council of Labor and Defense of the USSR of April 19, 1922 it was noted: “on the basis of 5 state entities, this Decree establishes Metallurgtorg, and other organizations shall be recommended to predominantly enter into contractual relationships with Metallurgtorg to meet their needs in metal scrap.”
Scrap of ferrous and non-ferrous metals was required by metallurgists to provide numerous consumers: machine builders and builders, artisans, transport workers, etc. It was necessary to streamline the relationship of business entities and ensure the return of metal to recycling from the population.
The organization was also tasked with delivering scrap for export, since the country required foreign currency.
In 1931, the All-Russian Central Committee and the Supreme Council of the National Economy decided to build five scrap processing plants in the USSR.
All-Union Production Association “Vtorchermet” was created in the Urals in 1941, which is associated with the evacuation of production during the Great Patriotic War.
The trophy service organized during the war was engaged not only in trophies and the preservation of cultural values, but also in the collection of scrap metal. Throughout the war, so many German tanks and guns were collected that they would have been enough to equip 300 artillery and 120 tank divisions. The volumes of collected scrap are also large – more than 6 million tons, of which ferrous scrap amounted to 5.8 million tons.
Today, the metal scrap and waste industry continues to carry out the strategic task of providing metallurgy with raw materials and is committed to protecting the environment.
More than 30 million tons of scrap metal is collected in Russia annually, and the number of enterprises on the scrap market exceeds 10 000.
The business community, together with the authorities, have formulated priority measures to increase the efficiency of scrap collection, and in order to increase the quality and depth of scrap recovery from waste, new technologies are being introduced.
Association NSRO “RUSLOM.COM” congratulates all participants of the scrap market, from citizens-scrap suppliers, to processors and consumers, on this historic date. We thank everyone for their respect for metal, their contribution to environmental protection and the development of the country!
