Why Steel


Recycling

Structural steel produced in the United States contains 93% recycled steel scrap, on average. At the end of a building's life, 98% of all structural steel is recycled back into new steel products, with no loss of its physical properties. As such, structural steel isn't just recycled but "multi-cycled," as it can be recycled over and over and over again. It is truly a cradle-to-cradle material.


 

Deconstruction
Beams, columns and other structural steel elements removed from a building can be re-fabricated for use in new structures without having to be melted and rolled; remaining steel elements are captured as scrap and used to create new steel products!

Scrap Collection 
By weight, 81% of all steel products are recovered for recycling at the end of their life. This includes 85% of automobiles, 82% of appliances, 70% of containers, 72% of reinforcing bar and 98% of structural steel.

Scrap Processing
Steel is the most recycled material in the world, with domestic mills recycling more than 70 million tons of scrap each year. Currently, structural steel includes 93% recycled content!