How the Environment Benefits When You Use Surplus Steel

Eco-friendly and sustainable building practices are top of mind with most contractors these days. Seeking out environmentally friendly building supplies is the new normal. Fortunately, steel is an inherently eco-friendly material for several reasons. With the addition of surplus steel to your materials, the environment benefits even more. Let’s explore some of the reasons surplus steel is a sustainable choice.

Strength of Steel

It’s no secret that steel is strong. Whether you use stainless, galvanized, carbon, or mild steel, you can depend on your materials to be durable wherever it’s used. Stronger materials mean you don’t need to use as much—even if you’re using it for decorative applications.

Surplus steel is just as durable as steel that comes straight from the manufacturer. In most cases, it’s perfect. In other cases, surplus steel might have cosmetic issues such as pitting or rust—depending on the type of steel. The point is that using surplus steel gets the very same results as steel directly from a manufacturer.

Steel Is Endlessly Recyclable

Unlike most building materials with linear production, steel’s production cycle is circular. In other words, building materials like concrete, wood, and drywall are all created, used, and then eventually need to be replaced. Steel, however, can be recycled endlessly into new forms to use again and again.

Clean Production

During the steel manufacturing process, there are no harsh chemicals or toxins released that could hurt human, animal, or plant life. The finished product also contains no toxic materials, making its use in any situation—from building materials to cooking utensils—safe for all. Even better, the by-product gases from furnaces used to manufacture steel can easily be reused to generate electricity or as a fuel substitute.

Surplus Steel Saves Resources

Using surplus steel rather than requiring manufactured steel can benefit the environment even more. The energy required to produce raw steel has dropped more than 60% in the last sixty years, but it’s zero when you don’t need new steel produced at all!

When you purchase steel that has been left over after big jobs or from a distributor that has gone out of business, you can do your part to eliminate the energy needed to mine the iron ore, coke, and lime. Using surplus steel also saves a ½ ton of coal and 1 ½ tons of iron ore for every ton of steel that would have been produced instead. You’ll help to cut the energy needed to produce new steel, as well as thousands of gallons of water that are used for cooling, descaling, and cleaning.

If sustainable building practices are important to you, then reach out to Texas Iron & Metal to see what we have in stock. We offer Hot Stock Deals every month, where you can save even more on large lots of various items. If you need something specific, email us for a quote. If we don’t have it in stock, we can get it for you.

Now that’s supply on demand.