Circular Economy

In the creation of new steel products, the continuous reduction in the use of raw materials of natural origin, together with recovery/recycling of residual products in internal processes and “industrial symbiosis” practices, is a real objective for companies in the sector, both in terms of the economic opportunities involved and, above all, in terms of reducing environmental impact.

Steel can be recycled and reused because it is a permanent material that maintains its strength, ductility, and formability over time. Steel is considered to have an overall recovery rate of more than 78% and 100% of the products made from it can be recycled.

For Pittini steel, the recovery and recycling activities are made possible thanks to a production mainly centred on electric furnace technology based on the recovery of ferrous scrap (the main raw material classified as “End of waste”).

The entire smelting and refining process in the mills required a total of 3,038,848 tonnes of raw and related materials in 2020, 82.2% of which came from recycled material (up from 78.9% in 2019).

The “Zero Waste” initiative, which was launched in the mid-1990s at the Osoppo plant, and subsequently extended to other Group production sites, has continued to evolve over the years to today. The aim is to minimise waste through the continuous search for the enhancement of its positive qualities, also by employing specific innovations in terms of processes, plants, and materials.

As a result, the share of incoming material to the production process, mainly recycled ferrous scrap, that does not become a finished steel product:

• becomes Granella®, a new product
• remains within the production cycle (such as ladle slag reintroduced into the EAF in substitution for lime)
• is recovered from third parties as part of an industrial symbiosis approach
• only a very small part, in the order of 3% by mass, is not recoverable