Iron is the most common metal in daily life, which is inexpensive and easy to process. It is widely used to make nails, screws, car casings, car frames (some are made of aluminum and titanium materials), beverage cans (some are made of aluminum materials), computer casings, and so on. However, iron is prone to rusting, and stainless steel is generally used for water related applications such as sinks.

Compared with non-ferrous metals such as copper, brass, bronze, aluminum, and stainless steel, the recycling price of iron is relatively low, but the amount of iron waste is very large.