Quick Answer: Scrap consists of recyclable materials, usually metals, left over from product manufacturing and consumption, such as parts of vehicles, building supplies, and surplus materials. Unlike waste, scrap can have monetary value, especially recovered metals, and non-metallic materials are also recovered for recycling. Once collected, the materials are sorted into types – typically metal scrap will be crushed, shredded, and sorted using mechanical processes. Metal recycling, especially of structural steel, ships, used manufactured goods, such as vehicles and white goods, is an industrial activity with complex networks of wrecking yards, sorting facilities, and recycling plants. The industry includes both formal organizations and a wide range of informal roles such as waste pickers who help sorting through scrap.