Steel is sustainable, once produced it can be used again and again. Steel can be recycled indefinitely without any loss of quality.
Steel is environmentally friendly because it does not age and therefore its life cycle, unlike other materials, is not limited. After the life cycle of a product made of steel, it can always be 100% recovered and is therefore a permanent resource.
Because of the permanent value of steel, there are sufficient incentives to maintain a high level of recycling. With over 500 tons of recycled material annually, steel is the most commonly recycled industrial material worldwide.
The Worldsteel Association provides more details about sustainable steel.
The sustainability of steel as a building material is also certified as sustainable according to the Green Buildings Rating System, the International Green Construction Code (IgCC) and LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) by USGBC.
More information about Green Buildings Rating Systems is provided by the Whole Building Design Guide WBDG.
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