VIEWPOINT
Steel Windows – Sustainability Meets Style Nobody can doubt the strength of steel as a construction material but its qualities in the field of sustainability are rather less obvious, but no less impressive says Russell Ager, Managing Director of Crittall Windows. It is the strength of steel that contributes to its credentials as a sustainable, environmentally sound and costeffective choice. Quite simply, it can be recycled or reused continually without deterioration of its fundamental properties. This translates into a high value placed on the product throughout its long life. Steel components have been recovered for many years and the process for recycling is therefore highly developed. Current rates of recovery from demolition sites in Great Britain are an astonishing 99% for structural steel and
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94% for all types of steel construction. These percentages leave far behind all other types of building material. Currently some 86% of steel gathered as scrap is returned to the furnace while 13% is dismantled for direct re-use. This leaves just 1% that is lost to rust or landfill. On a worldwide basis some 40% of all steel produced is based on the use of recycled scrap, that’s 500 million tonnes per year or the equivalent of 180 Eiffel Towers per day. For the UK market, that could be translated into 25 Forth Rail Bridges! Of course, sustainability is more than just re-use and recycling and other important considerations include the environmental cost of manufacture.
