Steel The Sustainable Material

A sustainable future for steel

In the sustainable future, new economic models will maximise the value of raw materials by encouraging practices such as reuse and remanufacturing. The weight of many steel products will be reduced, losses will be minimised, and the already high recycling rate for steel will increase, resulting in more recycled steel to make new steel products.

Steel, the sustainable material

Steel is a uniquely sustainable material because once it is made it can be used, as steel, forever. Steel is infinitely recycled, so the investment in making steel is never wasted and can be capitalized on by future generations. Steel is a material that is used, not consumed. Hence, the investment of resources in making steel is not wasted. Steel can uniquely claim to be the only truly recyclable material because when steel is recycled, there is no down-grading. The steel recycling loop is a true closed loop. It is recycled and used again, without any loss of quality, time after time. Only truly recycled materials, which are never down-graded, but are used again and again with no loss of properties, can enable a sustainable future. The non-renewable resources used to make steel, like minerals and fossil fuels, are not wasted because the steel will be used forever. This is truly sustainable.

ALL ABOUT STEEL

• Steel is world's most recycled material.

• Steel is very friendly to the environment.

• The life cycle of steel is potentially continuous as its properties remain unchanged no matter how many times you recycle it.

• Steel possesses great durability, and, compared to other materials, requires relatively low amounts of energy to produce.

• The steel industry has made immense efforts to limit environmental pollution in the last decades. Energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions have decreased by one-half of what they were in the 1960s. Dust emissions have been reduced by even more.

• Almost 65% of new steel is today produced from old steel.

• The recycling rate of steel depends on the end-use, but on average around 85% of steel, at the end of its first useful life, is recycled.

• Over 99% of steel from scrap cars is recycled.

• A UK study showed that 94% of steel is recycled when a building is demolished.

• 99% of structural steel is recycled or re-used when a building is demolished.

• In Europe, over 70% of steel packaging is recycled, which is far more than any other packaging material.

• The world's average steel consumption is 229 kg per capita (for 2024).

• The Steel consumption of China is 633 kg per capita (for 2024).

• The Steel consumption of USA is 297 kg per capita (for 2024).

• The Steel consumption of Pakistan is 46 kg per capita (estimated for 2024).