The Spanish steel industry is the European leader in recycling and environmental protection

By
Marta
 – Tuesday 09 September 2014Posted in: Spain Technology
Image

Spanish steel mills recycle 10.59 million tons of steel scrap a year, making Spain the leader in European Union recycling.

The IRIS 2013 report on ‘Steel Recycling in the Spanish Steel Industry’ highlights that Spain is one of the world’s largest steel producers, ranking third in the European Union behind only Germany and Italy. But, without doubt, the most important fact to come out of this report is that Spain is the leader in recycling steel in order to protect the environment.

Spain recycles more steel than all other raw materials combined. In fact, in 2013 Spanish steelmakers recycled 10.59 million tons of steel. According to Unesid, the Spanish steel industry group which prepared this report ( Unión de Empresas Siderúrgicas), Spain is at the forefront of recycling in the EU, together with Italy and Germany. As highlighted in the IRIS report, over 75% of the steel produced in Spain is made from recycled steel. This is much higher than the European average of 50% and the worldwide average of 40%.

Spanish steelmakers have reduced emissions by over 40% during the past two decades. Since 1970 the industry has cut CO2 emissions per ton of steel produced by over 75%, and 50% during the past 20 years.

In order to promote high industry standards, the Spanish Steel Sustainability Association (Asociación de Sostenibilidad Siderúrgica Española) has created the brand ‘Sostenibilidad Siderúrgica’ (Steel Sustainability), representing a management system that is used in order to meet environmental, social and economic objectives. This initiative was adopted by Spanish industry ahead of regulations from the European Commission, which require member states to improve the sustainability of steel products for construction.

For every ton of steel that is recycled the industry saves close to one and a half tons of iron ore, as well as cutting water usage by 85%, energy consumption by 80% and carbon output by 95% in addition to related emissions. It’s estimated that nearly 100% of steel can be recycled, which is much higher than most other raw materials.