Trident Metals – Materials – Stainless Steel
Stainless Steel Recycling
Stainless steel is technically defined as a ferrous alloy because of its iron base. Unlike iron in a steel product, stainless contains nickel that stabilizes, in almost all products; the magnetic property – alone, both nickel and iron are magnetic. Stainless is very popular for use in restaurant counters, restaurant equipment and cooking/eating utensils – this is because stainless does not contain pours that could harbour contamination. Another key ingredient in stainless that helps with the sanitary properties is chromium – also giving stainless the shiny appearance and the ability to protect the metal from water and air.
The price of stainless will usually be determined by amount of nickel in the product along with current iron and nickel spot prices (stock market). As with aluminium, stainless also has over 150 different alloyed types but only less than 20 are commonly mentioned in recycling – most often 304 and 316. The rarest and most expensive are monel and inconel series.