Steel recycling has a long history and no other material is recycled more intensively. Indeed, it effectively acts as a prototype – demonstrating just how efficiently a material can be recycled with practically no loss in quality.
There’s nothing old hat about iron – steel recycling keeps it forever young
Scrap iron is used as a raw material to make new steel all around the globe. Every year, nearly 20 million tonnes of scrap iron are used in Germany alone to make raw steel – more or less the same amount of iron that would be needed to make 3,000 Eiffel Towers.
The process of turning scrap into a reusable raw material is not so complex. Essentially, it is just a matter of turning the material into the required form using balers, shears and shredders.
Old metal is recycled by specialist firms using shredders, shears and balers
Far more productive: just one tonne of scrap steel is needed to produce the same amount of new steel made from 1.5 tonnes of iron ore.
A few facts about material & energy efficiency – steel and scrap recycling in Germany
Recycling & use of scrap steel
Energy consumption
GHG footprint
Thanks to TSR, the REMONDIS Group has a company that specialises in recycling ferrous and non-ferrous metals. Find out more about how TSR promotes sustainability