In a word, yes!
In two words, yes very much so.
The process of recycling steel has evolved over time, and today, steel is the world’s most recycled material. The process of creating recycled material from scrap metal (whether aluminized, cold rolled, galvanized, or galvannealed is also one of the most cost-effective ways to produce new steel.
Recycling steel is an essential component of sustainable development. With global population growth, economic concerns, and a finite amount of natural resources, it’s important that we make sure our raw material use and energy consumption is sustainable.
We should be able to reuse our resources instead of sending them to a landfill, and the steel industry is proud to be leading the way.
Next up, we’ll explore everything you need to know about steel recycling:
Let’s get to it!
Steel’s recycling process is similar to other recyclable metals.
There are many environmentals benefits of recycling used materials into fresh steel. This is primarily because recycling steel requires much less energy than producing virgin steel.
For example, when a ton of steel is recycled, it uses up to 74% less energy than when steel is produced from raw iron ore into a processed format like a steel sheet.
Recycling Steel Facts:
The United States consumes about 94 million tons of steel annually. American industry chooses to use recycled steel because it is just as reliable, and in many cases more affordable, than virgin material from a steel mill.
The fast-growing scrap recycling industry has created over 450,000 jobs and added millions in tax revenue – up to $10 billion for state governments. Recycling companies are making ever growing contributions to their local economies, and they’re expected to continue creating job opportunities.
2. Reduced Input Costs
Because recycled steel is less expensive to produce than virgin steel, these savings can be passed from steel mills to manufacturers. And by reducing the cost to produce their product, prices can be made less expensive for end consumers.
3. Reduced Reliance on Imports
Imported steel can be of lower quality and have high emissions because of the long distances it needs to travel overseas. However, by recycling steel, we are able to increase domestic supply and manufacturers do not need to rely on steel imports because there is enough in the local market.
Steel is used in a wide variety of industries, from construction to transportation to manufacturing. It’s also the metal of choice for many sectors of the automotive industry, such as auto body repair, metal fabricators and wheel manufacturers.
98% of all structural steel is recycled back into new steel, and as discussed above, recycled steel has the same strength and reliability as virgin steel. In many cases, steel used by the construction industry is recycled multiple times and used in more than one building.
Steel is not just used in buildings, it’s also used in the materials that build buildings —anything from cranes to drills and shovels. It can also be found in large civil engineering projects like bridges because the material lends itself well to high-rise structures.
Recycled steel has been known by some civil and building engineers as “the greenest element” due to its ability not only resist corrosion but also maintain structural integrity over time without losing any weight or density due to oxidation when exposed air.
2. Automotive
Automobiles are the most recycled consumer product.
Every year, more than 14 million tons of steel is recycled from vehicles that are no longer being used and have been taken off of the roads. That amount of steel is equivalent to what would go into nearly 13.5 million automobiles. Interestingly, the amount of steel recycled from automobiles each year is roughly the same amount that is used to produce new cars. Meaning, the automotive industry has an almost 100% recycling rate.
65% of the average car is steel, and the steel used in a car’s body is an average of 25% recycled steel. In addition to the car’s body, internal parts such as the engine can have an even higher percentage of recycled material.
Majestic Steel is committed to recycling steel scrap as well as buying recycled steels directly from the mills. If you’d like to learn more about our processes and inquire about becoming a customer please get in contact with us.
The best way to support the steel recycling process is to buy recycled steel and products made from it.
Ask your suppliers what their sustainability practices are and evaluate your own practices. Partnering with sustainable suppliers promotes and encourages recycling steel. In the long run this practice:
We believe that the future will be built on steel, but in order to get there we have to start building today. As members of the steel industry and champions of American manufacturing we know starting with more sustainable steel practices is how we’ll get there.
Through our own homegrown operational excellence program, MissionZero, we focus on the little things we can do today to support the bigger picture. Since its inception we’ve recycled 32 million lbs. of steel, averaging 10.65 million lbs. per year.
Our scrap recycling program saves 132,000 lbs of steel from landfills every year. As we continue to grow, we push ourselves to save more and find new and better ways to keep our plants green.
We’ve seen these programs save us time, money, and energy. They’re a key part of what makes our business so efficient. If we all prioritize making small changes in our businesses the impact can be much greater.
If you’d like to learn more about Majestic Steel and inquire about purchasing our products you can get in touch with a member of our sales team here.
