Recycle this! Steel America’s most recycled product

Recycle this! Steel America’s most recycled product

Figures released by Pittsburgh’s Steel Recycling Institute (SRI) show that steel’s recycling rate remained a steady 70.7% in 2004. That figure was somewhat deceptive as steel recycling, spurred on by an expanding steel market, actually increased by more than 7.2 million tons and contained approximately 35% more obsolete scrap than in 1980. Bill Heenan, president of the Steel Recycling Institute said, “Although the individual recycling rates for cans, cars, and construction are not available, all indications are that those too will have increases when final numbers are available.” If history is any kind of pointer, Heenan may very well be right. In 2003, the International Iron and Steel Institute’s on Packaging reported that recycling on steel packaging respectively gained 2% and 5.2% over 2002 and 2001. Furthermore, as the price for scrap steel increases it is having a trickle-down effect in several key areas. More and more steel mills are utilizing electric arc furnaces (EAF), which are an efficient recycler of scrap steel. Allegheny Technologies and Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel Corporation have both ramped up their production with the installation of several EAFs since 2003. Also, GrafTech International, who makes components specifically designed to operate in EAFs, reported a 7% year-on-year increase in net sales. According to SRI, the steel industry in now one of the largest consumers of recycled material in the world.