The latest European steel recycling figures released by the Association of European Producers of Steel for Packaging (APEAL) show that in 2011, 2.6 million tonnes of steel packaging were recycled to make new steel products, corresponding to an average rate of 74% across Europe.
According to APEAL, the 2011 figures enforce a long-term trend for steel as “the most recycled packaging material in Europe”.
“Indeed the last 20 years have seen a threefold increase in packaging steel recycling,” the organisation says, “thanks to a combination of steel’s infinite recyclability, the ease with which magnetic steel can be recovered and recycled, and an understanding of the resource and emissions savings to be gained.”
Steel packaging recycled in Europe in 2011 is said to have been sufficient “to fill a freight train stretching from New York to Berlin”, with the savings made by European households equivalent to “almost half Belgium’s annual electricity consumption”.
The methodology and data sources used for the calculation of the European steel recycling rate are independently reviewed and confirmed by the energy and waste specialist consultancy, c.
APEAL is a federation of four multi-national producers of steel for packaging: ArcelorMittal, Tata Steel Packaging, ThyssenKrupp Rasselstein GmbH, and US Steel Košice.