Recycled content is part of the process
Because steel scrap is necessary for the manufacture of new steel, the large volumes of steel produced in Europe every year – 160 million tonnes – are already made with large amounts of scrap steel. No artificial incentive is needed.
Over 90% of the European population lives within 200 km of a steel plant, which makes recycling of all steel products practical, sustainable and local.
Scrap steel is composed of products that have reached their end of life such as vehicles, machineries or ships, are no longer in use or demolished structures, old or broken domestic appliances such as refrigerators or washing machines, packaging as well as yield losses in the steelmaking processes. This scrap steel can be used for a multitude of applications and recycled steel is identical to all other steel.
This is called closed material loop recycling.
We estimate that the recycled content rate of steel packaging in Europe is 58%, given current packaging production and scrap consumption and figures. This approach has been certified by CE Delft and validated by the European Commission.
Calculating Recycling Rates
Steel: a permanent material
Ease of recycling