Raising the bar on steel reuse: Part I
27.06.2024
Written by Daniel Bassett
Associate
Steel is a big deal
It’s in our walls, under the floors and in our physical infrastructure.
Excuse the hyperbole, but it’s literally everywhere.
But steel emits big emissions.
Globally, ~10% of carbon emissions come from steel production.
In the UK, we produce ~7 million tonnes of it a year. We export half of this. Two blast furnaces are left, and our production emits ~17 million tonnes of CO2e a year.
But here’s some good news: reclaiming steel is also a big deal.
Reclaiming steel is a big deal
99% of UK structural steel sections are recovered during demolition.
Of that, 86% is recycled and 13% is reused. This is commendable and should continue.
But when we recycle steel, we still need to reprocess it and transport it. This means melting it down and hauling heavy beams.
This creates carbon, social and embodied ecological impacts. This means we need to do more.
Steel needs even bigger solutions
Here are four things we can do now:
- We, as an industry, must acknowledge that the state of play isn’t good enough.
- We must find ways to use less virgin material and do more with what we already have.
- We, as engineers, must strive to ask the difficult questions. We cannot be complacent in ‘taking the brief, seeing a problem and delivering a solution’. There will be times when we will have to challenge the brief to deliver a more sustainable solution.
- We, as developers, architects and engineers, have got to be braver. We must take inspiration from around us and adapt them to our own schemes.
But sometimes the solutions are hiding in plain sight.
I'll be diving into how we can maximise the sustainability benefits of steel reuse in part II of this series. Stay tuned.
