Steel is the most widely recycled material globally.
- Steel packaging finds applications in various sectors such as beverage cans, food containers, paint cans, aerosols, and more. An average New Zealand household utilises six steel cans per week. Steel cans are particularly easy to recycle as they can be separated from other waste using magnetic methods.
- Every steel can is entirely recyclable, capable of being reused repeatedly to create new products such as bicycles and, of course, more steel cans. Originally developed in the early nineteenth century to preserve food for soldiers, steel cans, often referred to as tin cans, feature an ultra-thin tin layer, approximately 15 millionths of an inch thick, to prevent corrosion—thinner than a soap bubble's skin.
- Approximately 2 billion steel cans are recycled annually, equating to about seven million.
- cans daily, enough to encircle the globe five times. Today's steel cans weigh 40% less than they did three decades ago, conserving raw materials and easing the burden on weekly shopping.
- The production of steel from recycled material reduces energy consumption by 75% compared to using virgin material. For each tonne of steel cans recycled, 1.5 tonnes of iron ore, 0.5 tonnes of coal, and 40% of the water needed in the production process are saved.
The Steel Making Process
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Each year, the New Zealand steel industry recycles nearly one million tonnes of scrap steel sourced from recycled cans, automobiles, appliances, construction materials, and various other steel products. This scrap material undergoes melting processes to generate new steel. Steel cans, encompassing food containers, paint cans, and aerosol cans, play a significant role in the steel recycling cycle, with approximately 340,000 tonnes recycled in 2004 alone, constituting 53% of the total steel can usage.
Recycling serves as an integral component of the steel manufacturing process. Steel mills employ two main types of furnaces to produce new steel, both of which recycle old steel products into fresh steel, albeit for different applications.
The basic oxygen steelmaking process, utilising a maximum of 25% scrap steel, is employed to manufacture steel used in flat-rolled steel products like cans, appliances, and automobiles.
On the other hand, the electric arc furnace, which melts nearly 100% scrap steel, is predominantly used to create long-shaped steel products such as steel plates, rebars, and structural beams.
Given that all new steel products contain recycled steel, purchasing steel contributes to closing the recycling loop by supporting the use of recycled materials.
The Continuous Recycling Loop Of Steel
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By returning your used steel cans for recycling, you play a vital role in ensuring that new steel products are manufactured using recycled steel. Steel possesses the remarkable ability to be recycled repeatedly throughout its lifecycle. Used steel cans are transformed into new steel cans through recycling processes, and eventually, these cans may undergo recycling again to become components of appliances like refrigerators or washing machines.
A network of ferrous scrap processors is in place to handle various types of steel products for recycling. These processors are responsible for preparing and transporting scrap steel to steel mills and foundries where it is melted down and repurposed into new steel.
Considering the versatility and utility of steel, it's disheartening to see it end up in landfills when it could be recycled and put to further use!