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We’re getting better at making stainless steel -- the world’s stainless steel manufacturers are using less energy and emitting less carbon dioxide. A recent study by Yale University (see: Mitigating Climate Change) shows that the energy required to make a tonne of S30400 stainless, the most commonly used nickel-containing stainless steel in the world, is significantly less than what was needed before stainless steel became one of the world’s most recycled materials. That’s because melting technology is more efficient than ever before. In addition, the same study shows that the industry emits less carbon dioxide when stainless steel is re-melted after use. On a worldwide basis, up to 60% of the materials used to make S30400 is recycled scrap. Consequently, less virgin material is needed to make S30400 than was the case in the early 20th century (when stainless steel was first manufactured). These findings have implications for the thousands of end-users of nickel-containing stainless steels. In today’s environmentally conscientious marketplace, customers want assurance that the products they buy will not contribute to climate change. They prefer to contribute to a sustainable world. My parents belonged to the war generation: they saved everything, from paper to glass to aluminum; they saved condiment jars and reused them for storing jams and jellies; they threw their kitchen waste into the compost; they saved aluminum pie plates. Today products are advertised as being made of materials that have been validated, by one association or another, as safe for the environment. For example, Northbrook, Illinois, U.S.A.-based Crate & Barrel reports that its sofas have wood frames “certified by the Sustainable Forestry Initiative” and that they’re “guaranteed for life”. What’s more, its cushions are “created with revolutionary, bio-based materials that are environmentally renewable.” The advertisement concludes: “Sustainability is a beautiful thing.” The same can be said of products made of nickel-containing stainless steel. It is one of the world’s most recycled materials. Austenitic stainless steel products are all around us. Our kitchen appliances and sinks are made of it; we cook our meals in it; we eat our meals with it; the material has been available for less than 100 years and is increasingly recycled. More than 80% of all products made of austenitic stainless steel are recycled at the end of their useful life. That has significance for the environment and sustainability. It means less energy is needed and less carbon dioxide emitted in the manufacture of austenitic stainless steel than in the past, when virgin material was all that was available. As more scrap becomes available, the need for virgin material declines and the carbon footprint left by a tonne of austenitic stainless steel becomes smaller. The production of austenitic stainless steel is more sustainable than ever. Manufacturers of stainless steel and stainless steel products can take pride in telling their customers that stainless leaves a smaller carbon footprint because it is routinely recycled.
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