STEEL   Steel cans ready to crush Steel is the most recycled metal in the UK and the world Steel was first used to can food in the early 19th century in France to preserve food for Napoleon's army Food cans are usually steel - if it looks like a bean can it is almost always steel Drinks cans can be either aluminium or steel - some canning operations have two sets of machinery side by side and switch between aluminium and steel depending on the current prices of the two metals Sorting steel works well on automated recycling operations because it's the only common metal that's magnetic so it's easy for machines to separate it from other waste. Most cars include recycled steel Crushed and baled steel isn't worth as much as aluminium. Prices for both change all the time but generally steel brings in a quarter of the price of aluminium Steel is an alloy which means it is made by combining several substances - the main ones are iron and carbon Indian metal workers in 400BC were the first to produce steel Today China is the world's biggest producer of steel

CANS At Crow Recycling cans are crushed and baled using machinery so they are ready for recycling. The Crow can driver visits can banks in Coventry and Warwickshire and brings the empty cans to the warehouse in the van. Some people collect aluminium cans and bring them to warehouse where we pay a few pence per kilogram for them. Used drinks and food cans are usually either steel or aluminium. Our first job is to find out which. We sort them with a magnet. The steel cans stick to the magnet and the aluminum ones don’t. Then they are loaded into machines to be crushed and baled. The crushed cans, in blocks called biscuits, are sold to scrap metal dealers who sell them to recycling plants. There they are melted down and reshaped into blocks of aluminium. The blocks are made into aluminum products such as more cans, bicycles, parts of buildings and parts of cars.   PAPER Waste paper Paper needs to be sorted into different grades to be recycled separately. At Crow companies and organisations pay us to collect waste paper and either destroy it by shredding it or sort it to be recycled. At the Crow paper sorting table is sorted into letter paper, shiny paper and newspaper. Each category needs to be recycled separately to make sure the end product is good quality. Some of the sorted paper is sent to paper mills to be recycled. Some paper at Crow isn't sent to be recycled – instead it is shredded and baled then sold for animal bedding and packaging. That's mostly confidential information such as medical records or old school reports which need to be destroyed to protect peoples' [...]

 ALUMINIUM FACTS   Recycling an aluminium can takes only five per cent of the energy needed to make a new one There is plenty of aluminium in the earth's crust - it's the third most abundant metal - but it's so expensive to extract that using recycled aluminium is cheaper. Extracting aluminium uses a process called electrolysis which uses large amounts of electricity running up big bills It takes just two months to turn a used aluminium can into a new can and get the new can back on the shelf in a shop Aluminium can be recycled over and over again and still be as good as new Aluminium is not magnetic so it's easy to separate from steel which is magnetic Aluminium needs to be crushed and baled with machinery before it can be recycled An average of 113,200 aluminium cans are recycled around the world every minute Aluminum is one of the metals used to build New York's Empire State Building Cars, bicycles, aeroplanes and buildings are all made partly from aluminium because it is both strong and lightweight. Recycling centres such as Crow make money by selling crushed and baled used aluminium to recycling plants. The price changes depending on global demand for aluminium. Sometimes it drops so low it isn't worth selling any until the price goes up again.

Scrapstore Development Worker Lauren Dunn We're here and we're open. The Crow Recycling Scrapstore is open Mondays to Thursdays. We're selling budget art and craft materials 9.30am to 3.30pm Mondays to Thursdays. Bargains on offer include fabric for £1.50 a metre, sheets of paper from 2p each new balls of wool £1 each and part used balls from 25p each. It's a membership shop costing £10 a year to join. We are asking people to wear facemasks while shopping. Because the rooms are quite small only one household at a time can shop in the upstairs rooms. For more information visit our Scrapstore web page, e mail crow@talktalkbusiness.net or ring us on 02476552444.

When customers send us documents for destruction or recycling removing plastic wallets is part of the service we provide. Sadly they're really difficult to recycle requiring high temperatures and a complex process. They're made of polypropylene which is possible to recycle in theory but in practice it doesn't happen very much. Here at Crow we haven't found anywhere that can take them. So instead if they don't contain any text, as these ones above don't, we give them away for reuse. Most people want to use them for their original purpose storing documents. There are a few other uses for them too. Here are some few ideas. Protecting printed out recipe sheets from spills and splashes in the kitchen Craft packs for kids for journeys or long waits - the ones open on one side are particularly useful for this and can take stickers, fake feathers, magazines and coloured paper. Toddler no mess finger painting. Put the paint inside, tape up the top and they can paint by running fingers on the outside of the plastic Toddler sensory toy. Fill with gel such as hand sanistiser and small beads, tape up and let the toddler play. Labelling storage boxes. Tape one on the side of the storage box and then it's easy to drop in a new label when the contents change Any more ideas please leave a comment. Thanks.    

If there's one thing the pandemic underlined at Crow it's how important we are to our volunteers. Our volunteers are returning gradually now we have reopened the warehouse with socially distanced measures in place. It's a staggered start working gradually up to our usual numbers to ensure our measures to keep everyone safe are working properly. As a general rule our volunteers don't chat about why they like volunteering here - they just get on with the job. But during the pandemic they, their relatives and their carers told us how important volunteering at Crow is. It has been a tough time for our volunteers. Most have a disability and some live in supported housing with help from carers. The pandemic took away the regular routine of helping out at Crow. Some had close relatives who were shielding. Those volunteers missed out on the visits and visiting they were used to. Some helped out from home. All were keen to come back as we made plans to reopen. At Crow we have taken a number of steps to make sure we are still here in the future for our volunteers. We closed temporarily at the height of lockdown and are no longer open Friday mornings - we're open Monday to Thursday now.  A discretionary grant from Coventry City Council has done much to help as well. So we're open to provide work placements for our volunteers by selling animal bedding, collecting and destroying confidential documents, collecting non confidential paper and processing cans for recycling.  

Crow Recycling including the Scrapstore is having a summer shutdown in August. The shutdown begins at 4pm on Thursday August 13 and ends at 9am on Tuesday September 1. Extra bags will be handed out to customers who need them for confidential and non confidential waste. At Crow there are only two full time staff. The rest of the work is done by volunteers and part time staff. Crow can't operate with just one full time staff member while the other is on annual leave. So Crow has a shutdown to allow both to take their annual leave. Apologies for any inconvenience.

Crow Recycling delivery van For the next few weeks Crow will be open Mondays to Thursdays but not Fridays. Crow's usual opening hours include Friday mornings but for the moment Crow will be closed all day on Fridays. The decision was taken by the charity's trustees in response to Coronavirus pressures. The impact of the pandemic has created a tough environment for small charities. The decision to close on Friday mornings as well as Friday afternoons is aimed at securing Crow's future. Our volunteers need us more than ever. Closing Friday mornings will help us make sure we can continue to provide our volunteers with work placements.  

CROW Recycling is now fully re-open and appointments are no longer required for Scrapstore visits within the opening hours of 9.30-3.30 Monday to Thursday and 9.30-12.30 on Fridays. However, as opening hours are subject to change based on demand for CROW's services, we reccomend phoning our office on 02476552444 before you visit. In order to maintain social distancing, only one household will be permitted upstairs to the Scrapstore at a time, and masks are encouraged. Scrapstore membership costs £10 per year. We look forward to seeing you soon!

At Crow Recycling we supply shredded paper packaging to help your mail order products arrive at the customer’s address in one piece. Crow Recycling’s shredded paper provides a cost effective and biodegradable alternative to plastic packaging helping make sure products don’t get damaged on the way. At Crow Recycling our machinery shreds and compressed used white office paper to create 30 kg bales. The paper is ideal for packaging everything from car parts to lighting products. Once at the destination the paper can be composted, used again as packaging or used for animal bedding.  The bales cost £8.60 including VAT and delivery in Coventry or Warwickshire. £8.60 is also the cost on collection from our warehouse in Hillfields, Coventry. For costs including delivery further afield contact Crow Recycling on 02476552444 or crow@talktalkbusiness.net. Crow Recycling is a registered charity providing work placements for disabled people. The packaging you buy is shredded and baled by disabled volunteers picking up work and life skills at our warehouse.