Metal Stocks in Use in the United States

Over the last hundred years or so, large quantities of metals have been put to use in the United States. Most of these 

metals have remained in use either in their original form or 

in new products produced from recycled metal. These metals 

serve important functions and are contained in automobiles, 

bridges, buildings, machinery, and many other applications. The 

accumulated quantities of metals in use may be referred to as 

“resources in place” or, more commonly, as “stocks in use.”

Stocks-in-use data are used to examine an aspect of a

commodity’s availability and use that is not usually considered

in mineral and material analysis. This information can be used

by government agencies, international agencies, educational

institutions, environmental organizations, private companies, and

the general public to assess the current and future availability

and disposition of minerals and materials. The U.S. Geological

Survey (USGS) has developed estimates of the quantity of aluminum, copper, and steel in use in the United States (table 1).

The stocks-in-use concept is analogous to a reservoir of 

water (fig. 1). Streams feeding the reservoir include domestic 

primary metal originating from mines, imports of metal, and 

metal contained in imported goods. Recycled metal remains in 

the reservoir. Streams flowing out of (and thereby draining) the 

reservoir include exports of metal, metal contained in exported 

goods, and metal discarded in a municipal solid waste (MSW) 

facility. Other losses (or dissipation) from the reservoir, akin to 

evaporation, occur during metal processing, through wear and 

tear during use, and through improper disposal.

The metal contained in a final product may be recycled at the 

end of the product’s useful life. When this happens, the metal 

remains in the reservoir of metals in use. When metal is not 

recycled, it usually ends up in MSW facilities. Metal in MSW 

facilities are generally not recovered. If they were to be recovered they would then be part of the reservoir of metals in use. 

Residing in the MSW facility, they are potentially available for 

future use.

Recycling reduces the outflow from the reservoir, especially 

to MSW facilities, by retaining the metal within the reservoir. 

Once the metals flow into the MSW facilities, they are more difficult and costly to recover. However, with changes in technology and other market characteristics, this metal may one day be 

returned to the reservoir of metals in use.

Data for these and all other major metals and minerals are 

also available from the USGS as part of a publicly available 

report on historical statistics for mineral commodities in the 

United States (Kelly and others, 2002). This comprehensive 

series provides data on the production, trade, and use of minerFigure 1. A reservoir with streams flowing into and out of it helps illustrate the concept of stocks in use. Figure not drawn to scale.

U.S. Department of the Interior Fact Sheet 2005–3090 Printed on recycled paper U.S. Geological Survey July 2005
Hypothetical comparisons may help to put 

ings, consumer durables, electrical products, 

aluminum 12-ounce soft-drink cans (Aluminum 

Earth to the Sun (150 million kilometers) and 

back more than four times. The estimated 61.1 

If all the estimated 117 Mt of 

portation equipment, industrial 

machinery and equipment, and 

a common household electrical 

tor (40,000 kilometers), then the 

158,000 times. If the same were 

done to all of the estimated 14.7 

Earth almost 20,000 times.

The estimated 4.13 billion metric tons of 

steel in use (in transportation, construction, 

cans and containers, and other goods) is roughly 

found in the Golden Gate Bridge in California 

times the amount in that bridge.

these data into perspective. If all of the estimated 142 million metric tons (Mt) of aluminum in use (in transportation, packaging, buildand other products) was converted to typical 

Association, Inc., 2002) and they were stacked 

end to end, then they would reach from the 

Mt of aluminum in MSW facilities would make 

that same trip almost two times.

copper in use (in buildings, electric 

and electronic products, transother products) was converted to 

wire, such as size American Wire 

Gauge 14 (Kuphaldt, 2004), and 

then wrapped around the Equawire would circle the Earth almost 

Mt of copper in MSW facilities, 

then the wire would circle the 

equivalent to 55,000 times the amount of steel 

(Malloy, 2004). The estimated 835 Mt of steel in 

MSW facilities is roughly equivalent to 11,000 

Images copyright Brøderbund Software, Inc., 1997, used with permission 

als and materials as far back as 1900 through 2002. Data from 

the above USGS report along with data from the U.S. Department of Commerce (2003), the Council of Economic Advisers 

(2004), and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (2001) 

were used to develop these estimates of stocks of metal in use.

Table 1. Distribution of estimated stocks of selected metals in the 

United States in the year 20021

[All units in million metric tons (Mt). MSW, Municipal solid waste]

Commodity

Cumulative stocks 

in use, excluding 

MSW2

 facilities

Cumulative stocks in 

MSW facilities

Aluminum 142 61.1

Copper 117 14.7

Steel 4,130 835

1

Sources: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2001; Kelly and others, 

2002; U.S. Department of Commerce, 2003; Council of Economic Advisors, 

2004; and D.E. Sullivan, U.S. Geological Survey unpub. data, 2004.

References Cited

Aluminum Association, Inc., 2002, Packaging can news: Aluminum 

beverage can continues to be the most recycled consumer beverage 

package: [Washington, D.C., Aluminum Association, Inc.,] available only online at http://www.aluminum.org/Template.cfm?Se

ction=Home&template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.

cfm&ContentID=5511. (Accessed November 29, 2004.)

Council of Economic Advisers, 2004, Economic report of the President: Washington D.C., Council of Economic Advisers, 417 p.

Kelly, T.D., Buckingham, D.A., DiFrancesco, C.A., Porter, K.P., 

Goonan, T.G., Sznopek, J.L., Berry, C., and Crane, M., 2002, Historical statistics for mineral commodities in the United States: U.S. 

Geological Survey Open-File Report 01-006, available only online 

at http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/of01-006/. (Accessed 

December 2, 2004.)

Kuphaldt, T.R., 2004, All about circuits: Available only online at 

http://www.allaboutcircuits.com/vol_5/chpt_3/1.html. (Accessed 

December 2, 2004.)

Malloy, Betsy, 2004, Western U.S. for visitors, Golden Gate Bridge 

facts: [San Francisco, Calif.], About.com, available only online at 

http://gocalifornia.about.com/cs/sanfrancisco/a/ggbridge_3.htm. 

(Accessed November 29, 2004.)

U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis, 2003, 

National Economic Accounts: U.S. Department of Commerce, 

Bureau of Economic Analysis Web site at http://www.bea.doc.

gov/bea/dn/2003benchmark/cr2003content.htm. (Accessed January 

14, 2005.)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2001, Municipal solid waste 

in the United States; 2001 facts and figures: U.S. Environmental 

Protection Agency Web site at http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/nonhw/muncpl/msw2001.pdf. (Accessed December 15, 2004.)

For more information, please contact:

Daniel E. Sullivan

U.S. Geological Survey

Denver Federal Center, P.O. Box 25046, MS 750

Denver, CO 80225-0046

Telephone: 303-236-8747, ext. 267

E-mail: desulliv@usgs.gov