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Materials production.
Circular materials.
Materials world.
Materials recovery.
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G 6 ARCELORMITTAL CLIMATE ACTION REPORT 1 CONTENTS PREVIOUS BACK FORWARD
Box 1: materials production and recyclability.
Global materials production has grown significantly over the past three decades; steel is the only manufactured material that can be fully recycled.
400 300 200 100 0.
Figure 1: global production (1990=100) 1990 1995 2005 2000 2010 2015 1
2 3
4 5.
Table 1.
Recyclability*
Made from end-of-life material Material group 1 Plastics and synthetic fabrics 5-10% 2 Cement5 0% 3 Aluminium 21% 4 Steel 22% 5 Paper and cardboard 50-60% *Ability to make same material again at end of life.
Fully recyclable, low risk of downcycling.
Highly recyclable, risk of downcycling.
Partially recyclable, risk of downcycling.
Little or no recyclability.
Source: ArcelorMittal corporate strategy 5 Concrete, made from cement, is recyclable to a limited extent in the form of aggregate.
7 ARCELORMITTAL CLIMATE ACTION REPORT 1 CONTENTS PREVIOUS BACK FORWARD
The future of materials: growing, circular, sustainable.
With its high rate of recyclability, steel is the ideal material for a sustainable, circular economy. It is also a key enabler for CO2 emission reductions.
Bright future for steel.
We believe that steel is the only major material group today that can meet tomorrow’s challenge of a fully circular economy. Steel’s recyclability is unmatched by any other major material group. Today, up to 85-90% of steel products are recovered at their end of life and recycled to produce new steel. The magnetic properties of steel make it easy to segregate from other materials, so whereas other materials are often downcycled, steel retains all of its original properties, making it stand out as one of the most easily recycled materials.
In the very long term beyond 2070, once there is a sufficient stock of steel to meet the needs of a fully developed world, the majority of steel products will be made from recycled end-of-life steel. We believe that as societies transition towards a sustainable circular economy, steel will be increasingly favoured over other less circular materials in overlapping applications.
Even today, there are fewer CO2 emissions embedded in the production of steel in many applications in comparison with other materials. For example in the automotive sector, for the structural ‘body-in-white’ of a vehicle, the CO2 emissions associated with an automotive part made of advanced highstrength steel are less than half of those associated with an equivalent aluminium automotive part, and less than a third of those associated with a part made of carbon fibre reinforced plastic.
Steel is also a key enabler as a core material in many leading technologies for global CO2 emissions reductions. These technologies include offshore wind turbines, efficient transformers and motors, and lighter-weight vehicles. A study by BCG and VDEh found that on average, the CO2 emissions reductions enabled by steel outweigh emissions from steel production by 6 to 1.6 It is hard to imagine a future where steel is not a critical material in a sustainable circular economy.
6 BCG and VDEh (2013), Steel’s Contribution to a Low-Carbon Europe 2050.
8 ARCELORMITTAL CLIMATE ACTION REPORT 1 CONTENTS PREVIOUS BACK FORWARD
Figure 1: comparative CO2 emissions from production of steel vs other materials for selected applications*
Icons represent the level of recyclability as in Table 1 on page 7.
*Figures relate only to emissions from production of material from primary (virgin) sources, not lifecycle CO2 emissions of different materials. Source: ArcelorMittal corporate strategy.
Steel vs other materials.
BOTTLE 0.75l.
Glass 420g 1,800g CO2 350g CO2.
Steel 177g.
PIPING SYSTEM 3 metres of 6” schedule 80.
Plastic (PVC) 27kg 60kg CO2 260kg CO2.
Steel 130kg.
YACHT 46’ trawler.
Fibreglass 10.4 tonnes 27t CO2 33t CO2.
Steel 16.3 tonnes.
BUILDING STRUCTURE One storey 5x8m.
Concrete 32 tonnes 5t CO2 5t CO2.
Steel 2.6 tonnes.
AUTOMOBILE Body in white (advanced C segment)
Aluminium 215kg 3.3t CO2 1.1t CO2.
Steel 270kg 9 ARCELORMITTAL CLIMATE ACTION REPORT 1 CONTENTS PREVIOUS BACK FORWARD
3 The carbon challenge for steel.
The steel industry currently generates approximately 7% of the world’s CO2 emissions. With demand for steel forecast to continue growing for several decades to come, the carbon challenge is significant.
Continuing need for primary steel production.
Global steel demand has more than doubled since 1990 as societies across the world (China and the developing world especially) have increased their steel stocks in products, equipment, buildings and infrastructure. Steel can essentially be made using either primary sources or secondary sources. Today the majority of steel is made via the primary (iron ore based) route, the first step of which is to smelt or reduce iron ore. Nature has dictated that separating oxygen from iron requires a substantial amount of energy, because there are strong chemical bonds between oxygen and iron in iron ore. That energy today comes primarily in the form of carbon. Carbon dioxide, or CO2 emissions are the result.
Steel produced via the secondary (scrap based) route, which uses electricity as the main energy input to melt end-of-life scrap, and has lower CO2 emissions, has increased in recent decades. However, although steel stock in maturing economies has plateaued, the strong demand growth for steel in the developing world means that end-of-life scrap is only sufficient for a modest share (approximately 22%) of metallic input for global steel production. The availability of end-of-life scrap is forecast to grow, and this will support the increased use of scrap-based steelmaking. When powered with clean electricity, this will further reduce the carbon intensity of steelmaking. However, the availability of end-of-life scrap lags demand for steel by several decades, typically 10-50 years or more after production depending upon application. This means the world will still be reliant on primary steelmaking from iron ore until nearer the end of this century.
Although steel is less carbon-emitting per application than many other materials from primary sources, the sheer scale of global steel production means the industry contributes over three gigatons of CO2 to global emissions annually. Global steel demand is forecast to increase from 1.7 billion tonnes in 2018 to over 2.6 billion tonnes by 2050 under current consumption patterns. This will be driven primarily by continued growth in the developing world, as well as increased steel demand to support the global energy transition, since more steel will be needed per unit of renewable electricity than conventional technologies.7.
Time for transition.
The global steel industry therefore faces the challenge of reducing CO2 emissions in line with the ambition of the Paris Agreement whilst at the same time responding to the growing demand for steel. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), in order to limit global warming to 2ºC or less, the world needs to reach net zero CO2 emissions around 2070. Achieving a limit of 1.5ºC brings this date forward to around 2050.8 While help will come from continued energy efficiency gains and yield improvements in steel production, as well as society’s shift to a circular economy, achieving this ambitious goal will require a fundamental transition to lowemissions technologies. This essentially means either capturing and storing the emissions, or utilising a different, lower-emission energy source to extract the iron from the iron ore.
7 Source: ArcelorMittal global R&D 8 IPCC (2018), Summary for Policymakers. In: Global Warming of 1.5°C. An IPCC Special Report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emissions pathways, in the context of strengthening the global response to the threat of climate change, sustainable development and efforts to eradicate poverty.
10 ARCELORMITTAL CLIMATE ACTION REPORT 1 CONTENTS PREVIOUS BACK FORWARD
Box 2: growing demand for steel.
Construction.
A significant share of growth in steel demand will come from the construction sector, particularly in developing countries for new buildings and infrastructure.
Packaging.
Pressure to reduce plastic waste and use more recyclable materials is leading to growth in demand for steel in the packaging sector.
Energy.
As the transition to a low-emissions economy unfolds, reduced steel demand from the oil and gas sector will be more than offset by growth from the renewable energy sector.
500 1,000 1,500 2,000 3,000 2,500 1990 2050 2040 2030 2020 2010 2000 1995 2045 2035 2025 2015 2005.
Yield improvement.
Business as usual – BAU.