CRSI Sustainability Section

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Recycling

Those same steel reinforcing bars also constitute one of the construction industry's most environmentally friendly products, manufactured almost entirely from recycled materials and completely recyclable, with a high value in the recycling market.

In 2000, over 70 million tons of steel — including car bodies, appliances, and reinforcing steel bars — were melted down and recycled into new products. Of that amount, more than 7 million tons of steel was made into new reinforcing steel.

Producing reinforcing bars from recycled steel also results in a dramatic power savings. Each year, in fact, making reinforcing bars from recycled steel rather than virgin feedstock saves enough energy to electrify roughly one-fifth of all U.S. households.