CLEVELAND – On March 10, 2021, the City of Cleveland and Cleveland-Cliffs Cleveland Works held a gun melt to recycle approximately 400 firearms from various sources, including those surrendered at the 2019 Gun Buy-Back, where citizens exchanged firearms for gift cards. A Gun Buy-Back was not held in Cleveland in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The guns were placed into the No. 1 Basic Oxygen Furnace iron ladle and melted by approximately 200 tons of molten iron, at temperatures of about 2,400 degrees Fahrenheit. The molten iron, along with scrap, is then charged in the basic oxygen furnace to make steel.