2006-10-19 16:03:37 · 7 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Geography
They are not like trees and plants which will grow back over a reasonable period of time. Once you mine the metal out of the ore, there's no more metal coming from the ore.
2006-10-19 16:12:31 · answer #1 · answered by spongeworthy_us 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Metals are one of the LARGEST renewable resources!!! When you compare the amount of labor, time and fuel consumed to make one soda can as compared to recycling it the savings are ASTRONOMICAL. True, there is some product loss involved and not everyone will see it as a renewable resource in the traditonal sense like the forest industry for example. There are some metals that can not be recycled, but by and large the key metals in our daily lives such as steel, aluminum, copper, gold, iron can all be recylced and is a fast growing industry. Many of these metals are strip mined to begin with, which is HORRIBLE for the environment, so making these metals renewable is in everyone's best interest. It is also a safe business investment due to the high demand for metal.
2006-10-20 00:15:19 · answer #2 · answered by Porterhouse 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Pure metals, iron, gold, lead etc., were not formed on Earth. Metals and the other elements are formed inside of stars. The hydrogen and helium components being the bulk of most stars, are transformed into slightly heavier elements.
When the young sta's life ends these heavier elements are thrown into space. There they are eventually caught in the formation of another star. That star makes heavier elements. And the cycle continues.
All elements were once inside a star, including the ones your made of.
2006-10-19 23:18:54 · answer #3 · answered by hrwwtp 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because they have formed millions of years ago by fission reactions in the earth (nucleus probably).This kind of reactions occur in very high temperatures(100000k+)so Earth can't recreate them anew spontaneously cause there are the conditions for doing so.A forest can be planted where there was barren land by any proccess but there isn't one to create minerals in biological terms(not geological).
2006-10-22 06:17:27 · answer #4 · answered by platinto 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
renewable resources are ones that can be grown or raised to make more of them. metal does not produce more of itself, what we've got is all we will have. so it is a nonrenewable resource.
2006-10-19 23:12:10 · answer #5 · answered by Shelley G 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
because when you recycle there is a minute amont of mass lost
2006-10-19 23:47:02 · answer #6 · answered by gussie r 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
BECAUSE ITS NOT BIODEGRATEABLE...
2006-10-19 23:07:12 · answer #7 · answered by Kiana V 1 · 0⤊ 2⤋