CALLS TO SAFEGUARD UK STEEL SCRAP SUPPLY WELCOMED

The British Association of Reinforcement (BAR) welcomes and fully supports the new report from UK Steel calling upon the Government to incentivise the retention of UK scrap steel to meet domestic demand. Only then can the potential of net zero steel manufacturing be realised. UK Steel calculate that the UK steel sector will need three times as much scrap steel to deliver net zero ambitions yet up to 80% is currently exported,

The report, ‘Steel Scrap: A Strategic Raw Material for Net Zero Steel’ states that the UK generates over 10 million tonnes of scrap steel every year. As steelmakers in the UK and abroad work towards decarbonisation steel scrap will become an increasing sought material with global demand expected to rise by 30% by 2030 and over 60% by 2050. UK Steel warns that the UK risks denying it’s a vital resource if high levels of scrap exports continue. 43 countries are already taking action to secure their steel scrap supplies and from 2027, the EU will introduce export restrictions to non-OECD countries.

The report proposes three key action points to help step up the UK’s environmental obligations and safeguard the vital scrap supplies needed for UK net zero steel production:

• Uphold standards by only allowing scrap exports to countries that can demonstrate their ability to treat waste sustainably.
• Incentivise retention of scrap to meet domestic demand by reducing price support offered to scrap exports through the Packaging Recovery Note framework.
• Incentivise and support greater processing of scrap to improve quality such as through R&D funding, removal of VAT on high quality scrap, and inclusion of scrap and the minerals it contains in the Critical Minerals Strategy.

Steve Elliott, BAR Chairman, said: “BAR reinforcement manufacturers use the Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) process which is far more energy efficient than the Basic Oxygen Steelmaking (BOS) process. The EAF method consumes only a third of the embodied energy, emits one sixth of the CO2 and produces approximately half the amounts of co-products (waste) compared with the BOS process. EAF steel is made from 98% recycled steel scrap. Therefore, access to steel scrap is essential.

If future demands for sustainable steel reinforcement are to be met then the UK steel scrap supply must be safeguarded. It is an essential resource for net zero steel production. We fully support the UK Steel recommendations to uphold environmental standards in exports of steel scrap, incentivise the retention of scrap to meet domestic demand and support the development of domestic recycling capability to improve the quality of scrap.”

The UK Steel report is available to download at www.uksteel.org/scrap