American Steel Is Better for the Environment

Most people don’t think of steel mills as clean, but over the years the industry in America has taken care to lessen its impact on the environment. In fact, the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) website states that the organization “has long identified environmental stewardship as part of our industry’s strategic plan and our vision for the future.” And compared to other countries, the American steel industry is actually doing pretty well on this front.

When you choose American steel, you choose to support a more environmentally friendly approach to steel production. Here’s why:

Our steel is highly recyclable.
Steel can be continually recycled and reused without any change in performance. That’s why 95% of cars, and similar amounts of many other consumer goods containing steel, are recycled. North America alone recycles 66% of all steel — more than all other materials combined.

Our steel is energy efficient.
In recent years the American steel industry has made great improvements in its energy efficiency. According to the AISI, steel’s energy intensity — the amount of energy required to produce one unit of GDP growth — improved by 28% from the 1990s to 2006.

Our steel is made cleaner.
American steel mills use much cleaner processes than other parts of the world. Compared to China, every ton of steel produced in America creates:

• 5 times less sulfur dioxide
• 18 times less particulate matter
• 3 times less nitrogen oxide

In fact, North America’s process of manufacturing hot-dip galvanized coil — the steel used in construction and car manufacturing — generates 50% lower greenhouse gas emissions than the process used in China.

Supporting a cleaner environment is just one of the reasons to choose American metal. If your job requires sourcing steel or steel products, be sure they’re American-made.