May 18, 2007
Corus Confidex trick?
The carbon off-setting Confidex Sustain initiative, being introduced by Corus, is being
branded by the British Association of Reinforcement as a smokescreen to avoid real
measures to tackle the reduction of carbon emissions.
Under the scheme, Corus commits to off-setting 1kg of CO2 emitted from producing
pre-finished steel cladding with 1kg in overseas climate friendly projects. However,
carbon off-setting is being increasingly seen by environmentalists as a way for big
polluters to try to buy a clear conscience. Earlier this year, Friends of the Earth
Director, Tony Juniper, warned that: “Carbon off-setting schemes are being used as a
smokescreen to avoid real measures to tackle climate change. We urgently need to
cut our emissions, but off-setting schemes encourage individuals, businesses and
governments to avoid action and carry on polluting”. While Kirsty Clough, of the World
Wildlife Fund, stated that: “Buying forestry off-sets does nothing to lessen society’s
dependence on fossil fuels, something that is ultimately needed to address climate
change”.
“Off-setting infers a way to carry on with the polluting activity because you can buy
your way out of the problem”, said Steve Elliott, project director of BAR. “Increasingly,
off-setting is being seen as a fashionable magic bullet solution. Unfortunately, there
are no such quick fix solutions for climate change”.
Elliott points out that unlike steel sections and cladding, concrete reinforcement is
made from 100% recycled scrap using the Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) route. The EAF
route uses an electric current to melt scrap steel and recycle it in to new steel
products. Steel sections produced in the UK use the Basic Oxygen Steelmaking (BOS)
route. The BOS route uses raw materials such as iron ore, coal and coking coal to
manufacture steel using a two-stage process. The EAF route uses one third of the
embodied energy (per tonne) and emits one sixth of the CO2 (per tonne) when
compared with the BOS route. All British reinforcing steel producers produce via the
EAF route, Corus produces via the BOS route.
BRITISH ASSOCIATION OF REINFORCEMENT
Riverside House, 4 Meadows Business Park, Station Approach, Camberley, Surrey GU17 9AB Tel: 01276 36735 Website: www.uk-bar.org Email: condialogue@aol.com
Both the cement and the concrete sectors are committed to reducing levels of
embodied CO2. Between 1998 and 2005, the UK cement industry achieved reductions
in carbon dioxide to air of 18%, a 46% reduction in sulphur dioxide, 17% in oxides of
nitrogen and 60% saving in particulate matter. Investment in abatement technologies
by the cement sector has resulted in the total environmental burden to air being
reduced by 35% in 2005 compared to 1998. In addition, the cement industry is
increasingly using the waste by-products of other industries, thereby reducing the
amount of waste that goes to landfill and reducing the reliance on fossil fuels. The
concrete industry has likewise reduced its overall environmental impact by 17%
between 1994 and 2001.
“It is ongoing action to tackle the CO2 problem at source that makes a real difference
not eye-catching marketing exercises”, said Elliott. “Furthermore, the cradle to grave
sustainability being forwarded by Corus conveniently ignores the CO2 impact of
transporting iron ore from Brazil and Australia. More a case of a ‘Confidex trick’ than
‘Confidex sustain’”.
