steel recycling

By the staff of
Earth911
Updated: 6/5/2008 2:47:46 PM

Each year, North America recycles more steel than aluminum, glass, paper and plastic combined
Americans use 100 million steel cans every day
The steel industry has been recycling for over 150 years
The steel industry’s largest source of raw material is scrap metal, which is commonly collected by recycling steel
Recycling steel saves 75 percent of the energy that would be used to create steel from raw materials, enough to power 18 million homes
Over 65 percent of the steel produced in the U.S. is recycled into new steel every year
A ton of recycled steel saves 2500 pounds of iron ore, 1400 pounds of coal and 120 pounds of limestone, since they are the raw materials for making new steel
A steel frame for a 2,000 square-foot two-story house is equivalent to the material of about six recycled cars; a comparable wooden frame would take over 40 trees to produce
A typical household appliance (also known as a "white good") is produced using approximately 65 percent steel
Steel cans contain at least 25 percent recycled steel, with many nearly 100 percent recycled content