Steel - Resource Circular Economy: Opportunities to Reduce Waste Disposal Across the Supply Chain

Steel is one of the most common materials used in construction for several centuries. There are a number of different kinds of steel used for construction. Indeed, construction is one of the most important steel-using industries, accounting for more than 50% of world steel demand. Structural steel fabricating industry has derived solid demand from the key building markets over the past five years, although declining demand from the non-building and mining infrastructure markets has negatively affected the industry's performance. The constant threat of competition from low-priced imports has also limited industry revenue growth over the period. According to the available data in the study period, 3,822,990 tonnes of steel waste was generated in Australia. Among the state and territories, the largest volume was generated in NSW (1,345,349 t), Vic ( 925,563 t) and Qld (703,502 t). Except for SA with 3,155 tonnes of landfilled steel waste, other states did not report their disposal rate. The following are the recommendations for maximising the opportunities for reducing steel waste in various stages of construction and demolition activities. - Provision of landfill levy exemption for MRT's steel recycling; - Adjust specifications in favour of more usage of steel waste-based materials in new constructions project; - Stabilise market volatility to ensure sustainable usage of steel waste in steel manufacturing; - The government needs to offer freight subsidises to enable the delivery of recyclables to processing facilities