The expanding role of LCA within the steel industry
Steel is the most recycled material in the world-approximately 40% of all new steel is made from old steel.Its ease of recyclability is therefore one of the main positive aspects of the material.When steel products reach the end of their useful life,at least 85% of the material is recycled and therefore it is important to account for this in Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)studies which include steel.The IISI LCA model generates Life Cycle Inventory (LCI)data for various steel products and incorporates steel scrap flows throughout the whole life cycle,simplifying the LCA process.Steel industry LCA data is collected worldwide and,amongst others,is used by industry,academia,policy makers and legislators.It is used to determine the impact that we as an industry have on the environment,can be used for steel promotion,decision making for material choice in product design,technology benchmarking and environmental improvement programmes.For example,assessing the impact of using recyclable versus reusable drinks packaging.In addition,LCA is increasingly being used as a tool in determining the carbon footprint of products or services,and to reduce this footprint.By its nature,a footprint will cover all stages of the products life cycle and all aspects of the supply chain.In attempting to determine where the greatest potential is for environmental gain,it is important to be aware that when reducing the impacts from one life cycle phase,the impacts in another life cycle phase can increase.The ultimate aim is to ensure that there is an overall reduction in the life cycle impacts of the product or service decreasing emissions in the use phase of a vehicle by changing the material used may actually increase the production phase emissions.LCA is used to ensure that this does not happen.This paper demonstrates the increasing importance of using LCA within these areas,as well as other initiatives that are being undertaken in different market and geographical sectors,such as steel stewardship programmes.The IISI LCI database is quite extensive,but due to the expanding nature of the industry,participation by more steel production companies is welcomed.
life cycle assessment (LCA) LCI carbon footprint environment steel
Clare Broadbent
International Iron and Steel Institute,120 rue Colonel Bourg,1140 Brussels,Belgium
国际会议
上海
英文
1261-1265
2008-09-26（万方平台首次上网日期，不代表论文的发表时间）