It’s true. Steel is very possibly the most recycled material in existence. And the fact that it is now
improved makes the recycling of old steel cause that steel to go even further. Steel today is all about recycling. Not only is steel recycled like crazy, it reduces the use of other materials. And the water used to make steel is, thanks to modern technology, now recycled as well at about 95%.

Steel Manufacturers and The Green Movement

A lot of money has been spent by manufacturers of steel in order to not only comply with earth friendly methods but excel at them. I mean what’s the use of recycling something if the methods by which you are recycling are harming the earth? So important is this to the manufacturers of steel that they have spent approximately $7.5 billion in the pursuit of environmentally safe methods since 1970. Overall, producing a steel that is safer for the environment has cost an astounding $10 billion. To make steel today you will need about 34% less of the energy that you used to need. Emissions of water and air during steel manufacturing have decreased 90%! Carbon dioxide generation has also been reduced significantly.

Steel – the Building Blocks of Today

As you may or may not know, the majority of a car is made up of steel. This was not the case before 1918 however. Steel is in everything made to make your car better all the way from seat belt buckles to reinforced bars in doors and the cage itself. The year 2006 saw the recycling of over 14 million cars. So much so that 13.5 million new cars were made from that. That’s almost a 100% turnaround. So dependable and recyclable is steel that it is used in not only roofs but homes themselves to prevent damage from hail, storms, wind, fire, water, ice etc. A 2000 ft.² home that might have been wood framed, built with steel instead (about four cars worth) saves approximately 40 trees.

Have you seen those big tall utility poles made from steel? It only takes the recycling of one car to make all of those giants.