MATERIAL EFFICIENCY
REDUCE, RE-USE, RECYCLE
MATERIAL EFFICIENCY
The manufacture of iron and steel generates a significant volume of by-products and waste materials. These materials include blast furnace and steelmaking slag, dust, sludge and used refractory bricks.
By-products of the steelmaking process are utilised in a range of innovative ways. Some of these materials, such as process dust and sludge, are recycled in the steelmaking process. Other by-products are sold into the external market. Slag, for example, is used extensively in the cement industry and in the construction of roads.
Material efficiency is a measure of how efficiently a company uses raw materials to produce its products and by-products, so as to minimise waste. The optimal material efficiency ratio is 100 per cent. In addition to reducing waste, improvements in material efficiency are often associated with cost savings and reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.
Since FY2005, with the inclusion of North Star BlueScope Steel environmental data, material efficiency has been consistently above 99 per cent.
BlueScope Steel is actively involved in a World Steel Association (formerly the International Iron and Steel Institute) By-products Management Project. This project brings steel industry experts together to share experiences and facilitates the implementation of more effective by-product management solutions.
