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Metal Recycling And Recovery Market Size To Hit USD 957.06 Billion By 2035
| Report Attribute | Details |
| Market size value in 2026 | USD 601.80 Billion |
| Revenue forecast in 2035 | USD 957.06 Billion |
| Growth rate | CAGR of 5.29% from 2025 to 2035 |
| Historical data | 2020 - 2025 |
| Forecast period | 2025 - 2035 |
| Segments covered | By Metal Type, By Process / Technology, By End-Use Industry, By Region |
| Country scope | U.S.; Canada; Mexico; Germany; France; U.K.; Italy; Spain; China; India; Japan; South Korea; Australia; Brazil; Argentina; Saudi Arabia; UAE |
| Key companies profiled | Sims Limited (Sims Metal Management), Schnitzer Steel Industries, Nucor Corporation, Steel Dynamics, Inc., Novelis Inc., Alcoa Corporation, Umicore, Aurubis AG, Boliden, European Metal Recycling (EMR), Li-Cycle Corp., Redwood Materials, |
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What are the Key Trends of the Metal Recycling and Recovery Market?
- Technological Advancements in Sorting and Processing
The industry is experiencing a significant shift from manual sorting to advanced, automated systems that increase efficiency and purity of recovered metals. Innovations like AI-powered optical sorting, Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS), and X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) allow for precise identification and separation of complex metal alloys and contaminants, even in mixed waste streams like e-waste.
- Integration of Circular Economy Principles and Regulation
A strong global push for sustainability and stricter environmental regulations is driving the adoption of circular economy models that emphasize reuse and regeneration over primary extraction. Governments are implementing policies, such as mandatory recycling targets and Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) programs, which incentivize manufacturers to use recycled content and develop closed-loop supply chains.
- Growing Demand from Green Energy and E-Waste Sectors
The transition to clean energy sources, including electric vehicles (EVs), wind turbines, and solar panels, has created substantial new demand for specific metals like lithium, cobalt, copper, and aluminum. This trend has also spurred growth in the specialized field of "urban mining," which focuses on recovering these valuable and rare earth elements from the rapidly growing stream of electronic waste.
Market Opportunity
The Battery Metals Boom: Unlocking the Next Big Opportunity in Global Recycling
A major opportunity in the Metal Recycling and Recovery Market lies in the rapidly expanding demand for battery and critical metal recycling, driven by the global shift towards electric vehicles, renewable energy storage, and advanced electronics. As EV adoption accelerates worldwide, the need for secure, sustainable, and cost-effective sources of lithium, cobalt, nickel, and manganese is increasing faster than primary mining can support. This creates strong incentives for recycling companies to invest in advanced hydrometallurgical, pyrometallurgical, and direct recycling technologies capable of extracting high-purity metals from end-of-life batteries and production scrap.
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Metal Type Insights
The ferrous metal segment led the market in 2024, because steel and iron represented the largest share of global scrap generation from industries such as automotive, construction, and manufacturing. Their high recyclability and low production cost made ferrous metals the most economically attractive materials to process. Strong demand for recycled steel in construction, infrastructure projects, and industrial manufacturing further boosted the segment's dominance.
The battery and critical metals segment are growing fastest over the forecast period, driven by due to the rapid surge in electric vehicles, energy storage systems, and consumer electronics that generated substantial end-of-life batteries. These batteries contain high-value metals such as lithium, cobalt, nickel, and manganese, making their recovery economically and strategically important. Growing global demand for critical minerals, driven by clean energy and electrification trends, further pushed industries to depend on recycled sources to reduce supply chain risks.
Process/Technology Insights
The mechanical processing & sorting segment led the market in 2024, because it remained the most widely adopted and cost-effective method for separating mixed metal waste at scale. Its ability to efficiently handle large volumes of scrap, using shredders, magnetic separators, and eddy current systems, made it essential for both ferrous and non-ferrous metal recovery. Growing industrial and municipal waste streams increased reliance on mechanical sorting as the first stage of the recycling chain.
The hydrometallurgical/chemical recovery segment is projected for fastest-growth over the forecast period, because it offered superior efficiency in extracting high-purity metals from complex and low-grade waste streams. Its ability to recover valuable metals such as lithium, cobalt, nickel, and rare earth elements made it essential for battery, electronics, and EV recycling. The process also produced fewer emissions and operated at lower temperatures than traditional pyrometallurgical methods, supporting sustainability goals.
End-use Industry Insights
The automotive segment led the market in 2024, because end-of-life vehicles generated large volumes of recyclable metals, creating a steady and valuable material supply. Automakers increasingly relied on recycled steel, aluminum, and copper to meet rising demand for lightweight and cost-efficient vehicle components. Environmental regulations and circular economy policies pushed manufacturers to incorporate higher percentages of recycled metals into new vehicles.
The aerospace and defence segment is the second-largest segment, leading the market, due to its heavy use of high-value metals like titanium, aluminum, and specialty alloys that are economically attractive to recycle. The industry's strict material performance requirements encouraged the use of high-purity recycled metals, which offered both cost savings and sustainability benefits. Rising aircraft production and modernization programs generated substantial scrap metal, increasing the supply available for recovery.
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Regional Insights
Asia Pacific: The Powerhouse Shaping the Future of Metal Recycling
The Asia Pacific metal recycling and recovery market size was valued at USD 245.78 billion in 2025 and is expected to reach USD 412.21 billion by 2035, growing at a CAGR of 5.31% from 2025 to 2035.
Asia Pacific dominates the market due to its vast industrial ecosystem and substantial scrap generation from rapidly expanding automotive, construction, electronics, and manufacturing sectors. Massive urbanization and extensive infrastructure development across China, India, Japan, and Southeast Asia are creating strong and consistent demand for recycled steel, aluminum, and copper to support large-scale projects. The region's booming electronics and electric vehicle industries are also driving a surge in the recovery of high-value batteries and critical metals, including lithium, cobalt, nickel, and rare earth elements.
China Metal Recycling and Recovery Market Trends
China's market is experiencing strong growth driven by the nation's accelerated shift toward circular economy policies and strict regulations on waste reduction and resource efficiency. Rapid industrialization and the expansion of automotive, electronics, and construction sectors are generating large volumes of scrap metal, boosting demand for advanced recycling and recovery solutions.
North America Emerges as the Fastest-Growing Engine of Metal Recycling & Recovery
North America is witnessing the fastest growth in the market due to a strong push toward circular economy practices across major industrial sectors, including automotive, construction, aerospace, and electronics. The region benefits from advanced recycling technologies, such as AI-driven sorting systems, sensor-based separation, and high-efficiency shredding, that significantly improve material recovery rates and make recycled metals more competitive with virgin materials.
U.S. Metal Recycling and Recovery Market Trends
The U.S. metal recycling market size is calculated at USD 87.91 billion in 2024, grew to USD 90.76 billion in 2025, and is projected to reach around USD 121.04 billion by 2034. The market is expanding at a CAGR of 3.25% between 2025 and 2034.
The U.S. market is expanding steadily, supported by rising demand for sustainable materials, stricter waste-management regulations, and the growing emphasis on circular-economy practices. Non-ferrous metals such as aluminum, copper, and nickel are experiencing strong growth due to their essential use in electric vehicles, renewable-energy systems, construction, and advanced electronics. The industry is also being reshaped by technological advancements, including AI-based sorting, robotics, and high-efficiency separation systems that improve metal purity and reduce processing costs.
Top Companies in the Metal Recycling and Recovery Market & Their Offerings:
- Sims Limited: Globally collects, processes, and trades ferrous/non-ferrous scrap for the steel industry. Nucor Corporation: North America's largest steel producer, uses internal scrap subsidiaries to feed its EAF mills for low-carbon steel. Radius Recycling: Converts millions of tons of scrap into rebar and other steel products using an integrated recycling/manufacturing platform. Aurubis AG: Specializes in processing complex materials and e-waste to recover high-purity copper and other non-ferrous metals. Umicore: Recovers valuable metals (lithium, cobalt, PGMs) from batteries and complex waste streams to support the circular economy. Steel Dynamics, Inc.: Uses its OmniSource division to collect and process scrap, providing traceable raw material for its vertical steelmaking operations. Novelis Inc.: A world leader in aluminum rolling and recycling, supplying high-recycled content products to the auto, can, and aerospace industries via closed-loop systems Gerdau: Recycles 14+ million tons of steel scrap annually to produce new long steel products in its EAFs. European Metal Recycling (EMR): UK-based leader handling millions of tons of ferrous/non-ferrous scrap through comprehensive collection, processing, and resale services. Commercial Metals Company (CMC): Integrates recycling operations with steel production facilities to efficiently process scrap and create value-added steel products.
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Metal Recycling and Recovery Market Top Key Companies:
- Amcor plc Sealed Air Tetra Pak Huhtamaki Oyj Mondi DS Smith Atlantic Packaging ProAmpac Constantia Flexibles Genpak Crown Holdings, Inc. Gerresheimer AG Stora Enso WestRock Company NEFAB GROUP Scholle IPN Greiner Packaging Ball Corporation Oji Holdings Corporation Ardagh Group S.A. RAFESA Trivium Packaging Envases Group.
Recent Developments
- In June 2025, Mitsubishi Corporation announced its investments and enter into a business partnership with DEScycle Ltd., a UK company in the development of innovative Metal Recycling Technology. DEScycle's proprietary technology enables the selective removal of metals at room temperature.
- In April 2025, The Nobian, Asahi Kasai, Furuya Metal, and Mastermelts established a strategic collaboration. The main motive behind the collaboration is to recycle metals from the electrolyzer compounds, as per the company's published report.
Metal Recycling and Recovery Market Report Segmentation
This report forecasts revenue growth at global, regional, and country levels and provides an analysis of the latest industry trends in each of the sub-segments from 2019 to 2034. For this study, Towards Chemical and Materials has segmented the global Metal Recycling and Recovery Market
By Metal Type
- Ferrous Metals (Steel & Iron) Aluminum Copper Lead Precious Metals (Gold, Silver, Platinum group) Battery & Critical Metals (Lithium, Cobalt, Nickel, Rare Earths) Others (Zinc, Tin, Magnesium, etc.)
By Process / Technology
- Mechanical Processing & Sorting (Shredding, Magnetic/Eddy Current, Optical Sorting) Pyrometallurgical (Smelting, Refining) Hydrometallurgical / Chemical Recovery (Leaching, Solvent Extraction) Electrochemical Recovery / Electrowinning Biohydrometallurgy / Biorecovery & Emerging Processes Cryogenic & Advanced Separation Technologies
By End-Use Industry
- Automotive (Scrap & Secondary Metals for Casting, Body Parts) Construction & Infrastructure Electrical & Electronics (including PCBs, connectors) Packaging (Aluminum Cans, Foils) Aerospace & Defense (high-spec recycled alloys) Energy (Wind, Transmission, Battery supply chain) Industrial Machinery & Others
By Regional
- North America Europe Asia Pacific Latin America Middle East & Africa
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