Screen reader version:
Has been used for over 1000 years
Is the only common metal that will stick to a magnet
Is the most recycled material on Earth
Steel is extremely economical to recycle because of its magnetic qualities and because it doesn’t lose any of its inherent strength qualities, no matter how many times it is recycled.
What is steel?
Steel is an alloy material made of iron and other elements including carbon.
You will also find the following elements present in steel
Manganese
Phosphorus
Sulphur
Silicon
Oxygen
Nitrogen
Aluminum
Hard facts
25 million – number of tonnes of steel products produced each year
2 million – the number of people the world steel industry employs
200 – the number of steel cans of food produced
Nicolas Appert – invented the steel can in 1810 as a way to preserve food for Napoleon’s army
2/3 – amount of cans on supermarket shelves made of steel
The lifecylce of recycled steel
Purchased – consumables are bought from the supermarket
Consumed – product is consumed or used
Disposed in recycling – waste steel is put in recycling
Collected – recycling is collected
Sorted – then sorted
Baled & compacted – products are baled and compacted for ease of transport and handling
Melted – the recovered materials are melted in a furnace
Iron added – molten iron is added
Heated – oxygen is blasted into the furnace, which is heated to 1700 degrees centigrade
Cooled & rolled – the melted metal is poured into slab moulds and rolled into coils and flat sheets
Remoulded – these sheets are used to manufacture new products
Shipped – products are shipped to shops and supermarkets
Recycled steel statistics
Recycling 1 tonne of steel saves 1.5 tonnes of iron ore, 0.5 tonnes of coal
86% saved in air pollution
40%saved in water use
76% saved in water pollution
42% – new metals made using recycled steel
62 – 74% energy saving
200 million tonnes – recycling raw materials cuts CO2 emissions by this amount every year
100% – amount of steel cans that are recyclable
2.5 billion – the number of cans recycled each year
18,000 – the weight equivalent in double-decker buses
25% – percentage of steel cans made from recycled steel
26 hours – how long you can power a 60-watt light bulb for with the energy saved from recycling seven steel cans
94% – the percentage of steel recycled when a building is demolished
Steel is an essential materials that is pivotal to our way of life and to the products we will demand for a sustainable future.
It is a unique material that can be used forever once made; it has a unique ability to be truly recycled through a closed-loop system, which will lead to the further preservation of Earth’s precious resources.
[ background=”#b6c4b3″ color=”#000000″ border=”0px solid #cccccc” shadow=”0px 0px 0px #eeeeee”]infographic courtesy http://www.colorcoat-online.
image 1: Pixabay
I just loved your blog, your infographic actually! Every little piece of information was truly just amazing.