Steel is a very common metal in the UK, and its strong, durable qualities have been recognised for thousands of years.

Although the amount of steel we use in the UK is declining, in 2004 the world manufactured more steel than ever - around 1.05 billion tonnes - a rise of 8.8% from 2003.

Steel is made from iron ore, which has to be mined, and it is stripped in a blast furnace to create the raw material, pig iron. The process uses a lot of energy – but steel can be infinitely reprocessed, so it’s a great material for recycling.

More Information

Useful links to key resources on the web

The Different Types

Recipes for different types of steel

How is it recycled?

Steel is easy to pull out of the domestic waste stream because its magnetic.

Problems and Issues

Steel cans are easy to recycle, but there are still some challenges

Made From Recycled Steel

The range of possible uses for recycled steel is enormous.