New York Secondary Metals - Non-ferrous Secondary Metals Recovered in the United States (with Discussion)

The fact is not.ablc though probably little known that thc Unitcd Statcls is the only nation obtaining and distributing through its Govcrn-ment burcaus any data pertaining to waste metals and drosses. Some foreign goverrlnlents do issuc reports relating to rnine or smelter production of prirrlar~ metals, but none gives in scope and detail t'he information published now by the U. S. Bureau of Mines and formerly by the U. S. Geological Survey; and this is despite the fact that the funds annually allotted for those purposes are insignificant in comparison with allotments for the preparation of data relating to other industries of like importance. The earliest data on the production of metals from secondary sources in the United States were contained in a press bulletin issued by the U. S. Geological Survey on Jan. 4, 1909. The information published was that for thc year 1907 obtained ant1 compiled by C. E. Siebenthal, who was one of the first to visualize the growing importance of the scrap-letal indust,ry. Thc Nationd Conscrvation Commission had emphasized its opinion that the known domestic supply of certain kinds of the morc important irietals was being rapidly marketed and that while there was no immediate cause for concern it was best to conserve such resources. Not only had there been a lanlentable lack of any data regarding the quantity of scrap inetals available or used but also gross carelessness and indifference in the segregation, collection, and effective use of scrap material. Siebenthal realized that even approximately correct statistics of recoveries from the more important base-metal scrap and drosses wcrc nearly as essential t,o both producers and consumers as the stat'istics of the output of primary metals. There were not then nor are there now sufficient funds for complete collection of data, nor was it considered the province of the Geological Survey t'o do more than determine approximately the recovery of secondary metals for use in supplementing those given for the primary metals. Undoubtedly the first bulletins issued did not give the full output, for it takes time to establish contacts for an inquiry covering so