Steel is undeniably the world’s most important construction material, making it essential to modern society. Steel enables manufacturers to build taller and safer structures while also being a recyclable material. Although competing materials center their sustainability claims on particular product application stages, steel has a superior performance minimizing environmental impact when compared through its entire life cycle.
What is Steel Made Of?
Steel mostly includes the major elemental component of iron, which is one of the most abundant elements on Earth. Simply explained, iron is made by removing oxygen and other impurities from iron ore. Iron is then combined with carbon, recycled steel, and a small number of other elements to create steel.
Although all steel is mainly made of iron and carbon, there is a diverse variety of steel containing different percentages of each element. Ultimately steel is a mixture of iron and carbon including less than 2% carbon and 1% manganese and small amounts of other elements to create a “unique recipe.” Elements that can be included in steel can be nickel, molybdenum, titanium, boron, cobalt, or vanadium.
Why Steel is Environmentally Friendly
In present times, producing a ton of steel requires less than half the energy that was needed to produce a ton of steel 40 years ago. These manufacturing improvements result in a 50% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and growth in steelmaking output.
Unlike many other building materials, steel is 100% percent recyclable, which means it can be recycled into the same material of the same quality over and over again. Steel scraps can become completely new, high-quality metal without any waste.
Technologies continue to evolve in the effort to further refine steelmaking because it will continue to be one of the major industries of the future.
Our Commitment to Sustainability
At CSM Products & Solutions, sustainability is a top priority. Our metal deck manufacturing processes center around minimizing waste and creating high-quality metal roof deck, floor deck, and composite deck without the use of hazardous products.
An example of how we ensure our metal decking is manufactured sustainably is our use of Saft-T-Vanish #25 for coil lubrication during our manufacturing process. This vanish uses ingredients that are derived from renewable sources and is formulated to replace vanishing oils made with petroleum solvents. Saft-T-Vanish does not contain hazardous air pollutants and is non-flammable.
Experience sustainable and environmentally friendly metal deck from a knowledgable manufacturer. Contact us today to get started on your metal deck order or to learn more about our corporate sustainability practices.
