Sustainability

Steel, Sustainability, and the Circular Economy

Industries across much of the world now prioritize sustainable, environmentally responsible manufacturing processes. This reality has helped to fuel the circular economy concept, which seeks to reduce the waste of raw materials by reusing and recycling and remanufacturing products.

Reduce, Reuse, Remanufacture, Recycle

Steel is a perfect fit for the circular economy model, because steel is relatively easy to efficiently recycle and reintroduce into the supply chain.

As the importance of sustainability continues to grow, it is increasingly vital for engineers, architects, contractors, and owners to understand the environmental impacts associated with different structural materials.

Manufacturing processes can vary significantly in their environmental footprint, so making informed material choices is essential. Selecting materials based on sustainability can reduce material tonnage and fabrication costs while also lowering carbon emissions.

Global Warming Potential

It is important to look at a building’s full life cycle from a material’s Global Warming Potential (GWP) value to its end-of-life environmental impact. Bull Moose Tube’s Sinton, Texas, facility has the lowest GWP in the industry at 1.06 metric tons of CO2e per metric ton of tubing. GWP data can be found in Environmental Product Declarations.

Environmental Product Declarations (EPD)

To aid in efficient, responsible material selection, Bull Moose provides verified Environmental Product Declarations. These EPDs help both private-sector customers (such as data center owners) and public-sector customers (such as transportation agencies) ensure that their construction projects meet their environmental goals.

Bull Moose Tube has two sets of facility-specific EPDs, and therefore, two sets of GWP values. Our most recent EPD is based on producing pipe/tube solely out of electric arc furnace (EAF) coil. EAF coil has less environmental impact than basic oxygen furnace (BOF) coil, and is the only material utilized in our Sinton operation.

Our second EPD presents “blended “GWP values, determined by a mix of BOF and EAF coil. The comparative values for these two EPDs are shown in the tables below. For reference when viewing these tables, consider that the average unfabricated GWP for Steel Tube Institute members is 1.71 metric ton of CO2e per metric ton of tubing.

EAF ONLY:

Cradle-to-Gate GWP for Unfabricated LEC HSS

Table 1 below provides the 100-year GWP for one metric ton of unfabricated LEC steel pipe or tube (A1-A3), produced using steel from the EAF steelmaking route, and prior to downstream transport or tube or pipe fabrication.

Table 1. 100-year Global Warming Potential, based on IPCC AR5, for one metric ton of unfabricated LEC steel pipe or tube produced (A1-A3)

Cradle-to-Gate Hollow Structural Section (Unfabricated)
Mill Location	Value	Unit
Casa Grande	1.38	metric ton CO2e per 1 metric ton HSS
Chicago Heights	1.39	metric ton CO2e per 1 metric ton HSS
Gerald	1.49	metric ton CO2e per 1 metric ton HSS
Elkhart	1.16	metric ton CO2e per 1 metric ton HSS
Masury	1.35	metric ton CO2e per 1 metric ton HSS
Sinton	1.06	metric ton CO2e per 1 metric ton HSS
Trenton	1.28	metric ton CO2e per 1 metric ton HSS

BLENDED:

Cradle-to-Gate TRACI 2.1 100 GWP for HSS

Table 1 below provides the TRACI 2.1 100-year GWP for one metric ton of steel pipe or tube (A1-A3), prior to downstream transport or tube or pipe fabrication.

Table 1. 100-year Global Warming Potential, based on TRACI 2.1 for one metric ton of steel produced (A1-A3)

Cradle-to-Gate Hollow Structural Section (Unfabricated)
Mill Location	Value	Unit
Burlington	1.75	metric ton CO2e per 1 metric ton HSS
Casa Grande	1.91	metric ton CO2e per 1 metric ton HSS
Chicago Heights	1.68	metric ton CO2e per 1 metric ton HSS
Gerald	1.82	metric ton CO2e per 1 metric ton HSS
Elkhart	1.69	metric ton CO2e per 1 metric ton HSS
Masury	1.72	metric ton CO2e per 1 metric ton HSS
Sinton	1.12	metric ton CO2e per 1 metric ton HSS
Trenton	1.75	metric ton CO2e per 1 metric ton HSS

Company