The Steel Recycling Institute (SRI), based in Pittsburgh, has announced that the recycling rate for steel remained at 70.7 percent in 2004. However, SRI reports that the total tons of steel recycled increased by more 7.2 million tons, driven by an expanding market for steel.
Bill Heenan, president of the Steel Recycling Institute, says that more than 76 million tons of scrap steel were recycled in the United States in 2005—the most scrap in more than 25 years.
“But, more importantly, the composition of the tons recycled in 2004 contained almost 35 percent more obsolete scrap than in 1980,” Heenan says. He credits this increase to the steel industry making more efficient use of raw materials and its increased demand for post-consumer scrap.
“Although the individual recycling rates for cans, cars and construction are not yet available, all indications are that those too will have increased when final numbers are available,” Heenan says.
The Steel Recycling Institute is an industry association that works to promote and sustain the recycling of all steel products.Latest from Recycling Today
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