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Steel is created when iron is mixed with carbon and a few other compounds. It is one of the most versatile, man-made alloys, being used. We use steel for almost everything, from automobiles, ships and bridges to utensils, cutlery and jewellery. But, did you know that steel is one of the most environment friendly components, being almost 100% recyclable. According to a statistic from 2009 about 66.8% of the steel in the world was recycled that year.
White-hot steel pours like water from a 35-ton electric furnace, Allegheny Ludlum Steel Corp., Brackenridge, Pa. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Recycling of steel is not a new phenomenon. It was put into action years ago, and because it was more economical than mining iron ore and making fresh steel from it, recycling steel gained popularity over the years. More importantly, steel, on recycling, does not lose its inherent strength. So if you think of it, your fork and spoon may have someday been a part of the world war tanker, a sword that fought a medieval war or even some abandoned satellite that wandered back to earth!
But more astounding are the facts and figures that come out of simply recycling steel. Every ton of steel recycled, we save one and a half tons of iron ore, half a ton of coal, 40% of the water and 75% of the energy! Not only that, but during the process of recycling steel, we are actually reducing air pollution by 86% and water pollution 76%. And a fun fact, it is actually said that enough energy is saved annually by recycling steel to power the entire city of Los Angeles for over decade! Now that is exactly why recycling ROCKS!
