Steel Recycling on the Rise

EurActiv (9/7) – Over a third of global steel production now comes from recycled scrap material, but recycling rates vary a lot across the globe, according to a report by the WorldWatch Institute. According to a WorldWatch Institute analysis, more than 1.4 billion tonnes of metals (aluminum, arsenic, cadmium, chromium, copper, gold, lead, mercury, nickel and steel) were produced globally in 2008. This is twice as much as in the late 1970s and seven times more than in 1950s, it notes.

Michael Renner, senior researcher at the institute, explains that rapid growth of the Chinese economy has pulled up production since the late 1990s and that China's steel production "skyrocketed from 66 million tons in 1990 to 500 million tons in 2008, accounting for 38% of the world's total". The next largest producers come far behind: Japan with 119 million tonnes and the United States with 91 million tonnes. The analysis underlines that energy intensity and carbon emissions of steel production vary greatly by country and depend on the share of steel produced from recycled scrap material. Recycled steel currently amounts to some 35% of total steel output and is said to save up to 75% of the energy needed to produce virgin steel.