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Reduce Reuse Recycle Remanufacture STEEL - THE PERMANENT MATERIAL IN THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY AR ECONOMY BEN CUL EFI CIR TS E R R C E a U U w n D S m io E E a t t c R e u r i d a e l r s s c n o o n i s s s e i r v m a e t i 2 o O n C E n o E R i f t f U a ic R v o ie T n E n c C In y C Y FA C U LE N MA RE ts Jo duc bs pro Durable 1 CONTENTS Steel in the circular economy 3 Steel is essential to our modern world 5 Reduce 7 Decreasing the amount of material, energy and other resources used to create steel and reducing the weight of steel used in products. Use and reuse 11 Reuse is using an object or material again, either for its original purpose or for a similar purpose, without significantly altering the physical form of the object or material. Remanufacture 15 The process of restoring durable used steel products to as-new condition. Recycle 19 Melting steel products at the end of their useful life to create new steels. Recycling alters the physical form of the steel object so that a new application can be created from the recycled material. End notes 22 2 STEEL IN THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY A sustainable circular economy is one in which steel is fundamental to the circular economy. society reduces the burden on nature by ensuring The industry is continuing to expand its offer resources remain in use for as long as possible. of advanced high-strength steels which reduce Once the maximum value has been extracted, the weight of applications, and encourage circular the resources are then recovered and reused, economy practices. For society the benefits remanufactured, or recycled to create new products. include durable products, local jobs, reduced emissions, and the conservation of raw materials As a permanent material which can be recycled for future generations. over and over again without losing its properties, Steel in the circular economy: The 4Rs AR ECONOMY BEN CUL EFI CIR TS Application Rail weight tracks R a Raw By-products w n materials m io a t t c Steel e u r beams i d E R a e C E l r U U s D S s Energy E E c n R o o n i Water s s e s i r v m a e t i 2 Waste Car doors o n O C Machine tools Cars R E E R C U Y T C C L A Engines n E E F o f Packaging U i f N t ic A a i M v e RE o n Wind n c n y Buildings turbines I Electric motors Bridges Office furniture ts uc J rod obs le p Durab 3 Steel is essential to the technologies and solutions The weight of many steel products will be reduced, that meet society’s everyday needs today – and losses will be minimised, and the already high will continue to do so in the future. Whether it is recycling rate for steel will increase, resulting in for transport systems, infrastructure, housing, more recycled steel to make new steel products. manufacturing, agriculture, or energy, steel is a vital Pre-consumer recycling from the steelmaking and material in our modern world. manufacturing processes will decrease due to increased process efficiencies and collaboration In the sustainable future, new economic models will between steelmakers and their customers to reduce maximise the value of raw materials by encouraging yield losses. practices such as reuse and remanufacturing. A sustainable future for steel* Now NG M KI A A NU Future LM F E AC E T T U S R IN G URE ACT UF AN G EM N I R L C SE Y U C E E R R ER PRE-C ONSUM USE P O R S A T- W C ON M SU A ME T R E REC R YCLING IA L E X S T SE R OS AC L TI ON Earth *per tonne of steel 4 STEEL IS ESSENTIAL TO OUR MODERN WORLD Around 650 million tonnes of recycled steel Steel products are durable and simply last were utilised in the past year to create new steel. a long time. In applications with a long service life, But it was not enough to satisfy the world’s such as buildings and infrastructure, we will need demand for this essential metal. The main reason to wait a hundred years or more to recycle the steel we still need to make steel from raw materials is they contain. But every piece of steel can eventually the durability of steel products in combination with be recycled to meet the growing global need growth in steel demand. for new steel. Steel markets and durability Long service life Medium service life Short service life Building and infrastructure 50% Electrical equipment Other transport Steel use 5% 3% 2014 1,543 Mt 2% Metal products 11% Domestic appliances 13% 16% Mechanical equipment Automotive 5 6 REDUCE Decreasing the amount of material, energy and other resources used to create steel and reducing the weight of steel used in products. Over the past 50 years, the steel industry has Since 1900 the global steel industry has recycled invested in research and technology to create new over 22 billion tonnes of steel. This has reduced iron grades of advanced and ultra-high-strength steels. ore consumption by around 28 billion tonnes, These grades have reduced the weight of many steel as well as cutting coal consumption by applications by up to 40%. Optimising the weight of 14 billion tonnes 2. products is an integral part of a circular economy. The industry has also dramatically reduced the use By reducing weight, the amount of raw materials of energy. Producing one tonne of steel today and energy used to create the product is decreased, requires just 40% of the energy it did in 1960 3. reducing pressure on raw materials. Lighter weight Over the same period, steel production has applications which take advantage of high-strength increased almost five times. steels, such as vehicles, also produce fewer emissions during the use phase of their life. Waste is another area in which the steel industry In construction, substituting high-strength steels has made huge gains over the past decades. Working with external partners, the industry has for regular steels can achieve a CO2 reduction of around 30% in steel columns and around been able to find markets for over 97% of its 4 20% in steel beams 1. Whether it is a wind turbine, production with only a 2.7% waste stream . construction panel, a vehicle, or a steel can, The valuable by-products, including slag, dust, and the application of high-strength steels means that less process gases are fully utilised in other applications steel is required to provide the same strength and and industries (see page 13 for examples), avoiding functionality. This also has a knock-on effect the use of primary materials such as cement clinker. by reducing the amount of other materials required, for example in foundations. In addition, the development One area that the steel industry and its customers of better coating systems results in an extended are working hard to improve is reducing the yield loss service life and hence reduced material demand. in downstream manufacturing processes. A common drive to diminish the percentage of offcuts, which are At the same time, the steel industry has reduced its then re-melted to make new steel, will lead to greater dependence on raw materials. productivity as well as energy and resource savings. 7 Reduce in steel applications EDUCTION B HT R ENE IG FIT WE S Job creation Reduced use in R&D of raw materials Automotive Construction Packaging High-strength steels have led to a 25 to 40% weight reduction over the past three decades, with corresponding decreases in emissions Reduced Reduced CO emissions and energy use 2 transport impact Reduced energy use CASE STUDY › New high-strength steels allow light and sustainable structures With the development of its HISTAR® range of A HISTAR ® 460 beam weighs 32% less steels for construction, ArcelorMittal has created than a standard S355 JR grade beam of structural steels which combine high yield strength the same length and thickness. Material savings with excellent toughness at low temperatures and are around 30%. These new steels satisfy outstanding weldability. Compared to conventional the demands of architects and designers for structural steels, HISTAR® beams exhibit significant materials which enable them to create light and weight and material cost savings. economical structures. 8 REDUCE Reduce during steel production 100% 1,800 Mt 90% 1,600 Mt 80% 1,400 Mt 70% 1,200 Mt 60% 1000 Mt 50% 800 Mt 40% 600 Mt 30% 20% 400 Mt World crude steel production in million tonnes 10% Indexed global energy consumption / tonne 200 Mt of crude steel production 0% 0 Mt 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 • Global steel production has increased almost fivefold since 1960 • Energy consumption has been reduced by 60% per tonne of steel in the same period For every tonne of steel produced today, we save almost 24 GJ per tonne compared to 1960. That’s enough energy to drive an average passenger vehicle 17,380 km, which is equivalent to driving across the USA and back more than twice.
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