By Adam Parr, Director of Communications and Public Affairs — Gerdau
The construction industry has been found to create as much as one-third of the world’s overall waste. This is a staggering statistic, but it is exceedingly difficult to fix, as it would be impossible to simply stop construction and development. However, the construction industry has found ways to adapt while improving its environmental footprint — one of the most impactful approaches is using recycled steel.
An environmentally-friendly alternative to virgin steel
One of the benefits of steel as a construction material is that it is endlessly recyclable. Globally, around 40% of the total amount of steel produced is through recycling meaning that, in many cases, consumers don’t even know that the product they are buying is made of recycled rather than virgin materials. The recycling rate is even higher in the US, where approximately 70 percent of steel is made in electric arc furnaces, using recycled materials as the primary input. The nature of steel allows it to be melted down multiple times without sacrificing anything in terms of quality.
Even better, metals like steel can be recycled from various sources. The most common is scrap metal, which is left over from construction and demolition, but recycling materials can even come from unprepared sources such as car bodies. Since steel is 100%-recyclable and the demand for construction is so high, sourcing it from this wide variety of inputs allows the industry to better keep up with the need.
During the recycling process, steel is collected at scrap yards, where sellers can often make money by scrapping their unwanted and unneeded materials. The scrap metal is then sorted, shredded down, melted, purified, and solidified so it can be sold back for use as a construction material.
The benefits of recycled steel
Of course, the direct benefit of recycling steel is that it reduces the amount of waste in landfills. Given the amount of steel used, it is critical to keep as much of this out of landfills as possible, especially since metals such as steel can take hundreds of years to decompose naturally.
However, another more exciting benefit is that steel recycling has the potential to significantly reduce energy consumption and CO2 emissions. While some emissions are still involved in steel recycling, the overall carbon footprint of the process compared to smelting is significantly less.
Additionally, the steel recycling industry generates thousands of jobs for collection and processing operations. People bring their scrap metal to scrap yards, where individuals collect, process, melt, and purify the metal into a usable form. Creating a thriving industry is just one economic bonus that encourages this process.
Unlike other recycled materials, recycled steel is not limited to specific uses or applications. For example, when recycling paper, there is a loss of quality that prevents recycled paper from being used for some of the same purposes as virgin paper. Recycled steel, conversely, has the same durability and qualities as virgin steel, allowing it to be used for any number of construction applications from fabrication to joists.
Ultimately, recycled steel is an adaptable, sustainable, resilient choice for construction projects and numerous other applications.
Improved footprint without sacrificing quality
Construction operations need not worry about the quality of recycled steel they are using, as recycled steel is produced to a very high standard to meet specifications. Manufacturers realize that the recycled steel products they create have a fundamental role in the stability and safety of a building.
Ultimately, there are only benefits to using recycled steel in construction from promoting sustainable development to a substantial reduction in carbon emissions. Recycled structural steel represents a step forward in construction materials that allows the industry to build sound, resilient structures that are environmentally friendly.
This piece was prepared online by Panuruji Kenta, Publisher, SEVENSEAS Media