What makes steel Eco friendly?
Steel is highly recommended for construction and industrial purposes. It comes off as the best material owing to its various features like great strength, corrosion and fire resistance, etc. However, steel is also an eco-friendly material and a blessing to the environment. This World Environment Day, switch to steel to do your bit for the environment.
Here’s what makes steel an environment-friendly material.
The by-products of steel can be repurposed: The manufacturing of steel leaves almost no wastage. The making of steel results in by-products such as air-cooled slag, granulated slag, and expanded slag. All these are adapted for various purposes. The air-cooled slag is suitable as a construction aggregate and is also used in ready-mixed concrete, concrete products, asphaltic concrete, road bases, etc. Granulated slag is utilized in making cementitious material and expanded slag as a lightweight aggregate. Moreover, the by-product gases are used as a direct fuel substitute, for the internal generation of electricity, or sold for power generation.
Water used in the manufacturing of steel can be recycled: The average water required by integrated plants per metric ton of steel is 28.6 cubic metres. The water is utilized for various purposes like cooling, descaling, and cleaning. However, around 98% of the water is recycled and returned to the source. It is then acceptable for specific end-use. Some part of the water is lost due to the evaporation.
Endlessly recyclable: Steel can be endlessly recycled without losing its properties and strength. Steel can be easily repurposed for various other uses and is 98% recyclable, thus being environment-friendly.
Less energy is used: Steel can be prepared from scrap metal too and that consumes very little energy. It is manufactured in the electric arc furnace. In it, new steel is produced entirely from scrap steel and the step of creating pig iron from iron ore (which is further used to make steel) is reduced, thus saving up to 74% of the energy. Moreover, steel is sturdy and can support thicker layers of insulation. Thus, homes don’t lose heat or cold in winters and summers respectively and result in saving electricity and reduced bills.
Reduces deforestation: Steel is fast replacing wood. As many people have started using steel in place of wood for furniture and their houses, the usage of wood has reduced. This further results in fewer trees being cut and reducing deforestation. Moreover, steel can be easily reused but it’s difficult to reuse wood. Thus, using steel means no wastage, less energy, and water consumption. To sum it up, steel is an eco-friendly material and is a boon for society.
