The Canadian steel industry has been active for many years in reducing the environmental impacts of its activities. Below are some of its recent achievements:

• Reduced carbon dioxide emissions by more than 20% since 1990, surpassing the target set out in the Kyoto Protocol.
• Reduced sulphur dioxide emissions by 77% since 1990.
• Reduced nitrogen oxide emissions by 24% since 1990.
• Reduced polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) emissions by 74% since 1993.
• Improved energy efficiency by 25.4 percent between 1990 and 2001.
• Reduced waste going to landfill by 52% between 1994 and 2002

The iron cycle, in which recycling is well established, is a very mature process with a history dating back thousands of years, even though extensive production of steel did not begin until the 19th century. The industry is taking a life cycle approach - steel is the most recycled material in the world. Steel recycling in construction is continually on the rise and its recycling rate tops 95%

Steel recycling

Steel is inherently recyclable and retains virtually all of its physical properties after recycling. Therefore, scrap steel has a relatively high economic value and a well established infrastructure and international markets for the recovery and reprocessing of scrap metal construction products exist throughout the World.

Furthermore, scrap steel is an essential as feedstock to the steel manufacturing process which uses between 20% and 100% recycled steel to manufacture new steel (depending on the technology used). The scrap steel is fed as the principal feedstock into the EAF furnace or typically forms about 20% to 30% of the feedstock of a BOF furnace and is melted down and manufactured into new steel. According to the Steel Re­cycling Institute, about 70 million tons per year of steel are recycled in North America. Worldwide, 400 million tons of steel were recycled in 2001. In North America, approximately 40 million tons (59% of total recycled steel) were derived from construction and demolition waste, and the steel salvage market accounts for an additional 4 mil­lion tons per year.

Steel recycling benefits

Each tonne of recycled steel saves 1,100 kg of iron ore, 600 kg of coal, and 50 kg of limestone. The American Institute of Architects (AIA) Environmental Resource Guide also states that every kg of steel produced from recycled sources rather than raw materials saves 12.5 MJ of energy. Furthermore, 47% less oil is used, 86% less emissions to air are produced, 76% less water is contaminated, 40% less water is used and 97% less mining waste is created.

Thus, recycling of steel has considerable benefits. However, the recycling process still uses considerable energy and leads pollution emissions. Reuse of steel components with minimal reprocessing requires little energy and reduces pollution impacts considerably further.

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