As a material that is central to our built environment, steel is all around us and has the potential to be recycled infinitely. This makes it uniquely suited to a world where circularity is prioritised, ensuring vital resources are kept in use, value is retained and waste is designed out.

However, in the UK, the reality of steel’s journey is more linear. Every year, millions of tonnes of scrap are exported, and millions of tonnes of steel imported for use across the construction industry. Beyond the circularity principle, this approach leaves projects exposed to greater levels of risk – from volatile pricing through to lead time uncertainty.

To support projects across building, infrastructure and energy, we must re-think our approach to steel. By adopting a circular model, where scrap is sourced, recycled and reused in the UK, we can build greater resilience, transparency and reliability into the supply chain and reinforce the foundations of sustainable construction.

The importance of circularity

The concept of circularity – where the lifespan of resources is extended to reduce depletion and minimise waste – has various benefits. Often the drive towards circularity is driven by a desire to reduce emissions, but in the construction industry, outcomes such as resilience offer a far greater advantage.

That’s because disruption has become a defining feature of the industry in recent years. A global supply chain means being exposed to global risks, from the impacts of political tensions through to transportation challenges. These things have the potential to delay supplies and even increase prices, having a direct impact on projects at home.

Circularity provides a solution to these challenges. With UK-made steel made from UK-sourced, processed and melted scrap, projects can benefit from greater supply chain certainty and local expertise.

Alongside the practical benefits, a shorter, more local supply chain also offers greater certainty over material transparency. With the origin of materials, including steel, now becoming an important factor in project specification, domestic products deliver greater certainty, allowing projects to remain compliant.

Circularity in action

Producing circular steel in the UK relies on a well-defined process and operational infrastructure – one which 7 Steel has developed over decades.

Built around a fully integrated, closed-loop process, 7 Steel manages the process end-to-end. That means sourcing scrap steel from around the UK, sorting and processing it to ensure clean feedstock and melting using responsible techniques to create up to 1.2 million tonnes of crude steel every year. From there, the steel is used to create essential products for the construction industry, including rebar.

At the heart of this closed-loop process is a Cardiff-based steel mill which features an Electric Arc Furnace (EAF), ensuring a responsible, future-ready method for producing steel in the UK. Unlike traditional steel production which is typically built around blast furnace techniques, 7 Steel only uses EAF production methods – and has done for more than a decade. In practice, this sees coal-powered furnaces become a thing of the past, making way for less intensive, more sustainable steel production.

To ensure complete circularity in steel supply, however, processes extend far beyond EAF production. In-house scrapyards feed around 30% of scrap consumption to ensure a reliable supply of high-quality material into the furnace. Within this network, machinery including a recently-introduced shredder, enhances recycling capabilities and allows for a broader variety of feedstock to be introduced to the Melt Shop, bringing with it greater energy efficiency and CO2 savings.

In addition to ensuring a reliable supply of scrap to feed low-carbon steel production, the UK-based closed-loop process delivers another critical benefit for the construction industry – traceability. More frequently included in procurement policies in the form of Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs), traceability factors such as country of origin are becoming more important. 7 Steel’s reinforcing bar and wire products carry an emissions intensity as low as 374 kgCO2 per tonne, compared to 760 kgCO2 per tonne for products imported into the UK. Being able to source domestically-made steel ensures complete certainty and transparency for today’s construction projects.

These processes keep the creation of low-carbon steel incredibly lean, providing a robust alternative to the global steel supply chain which is subject to greater levels of uncertainty. Additionally, it ensures steel manufacturing is retained in the UK, contributing to the national economy through jobs and value creation.

Shaping the future of construction

Across the construction landscape are some big ambitions. The construction of 1.5 million homes by 2029, huge investment in renewable energy infrastructure such as wind turbines, and the development of new train lines are just some of the things driving growth and optimism across the sector.

Behind all of these projects is steel. The material’s role in construction projects is undeniable, and UK-made steel will be integral to building the future of construction responsibly. But UK-made isn’t enough. To support the construction industry long-term, steel must be sustainable – and at 7 Steel, we’re proud to be leading the way with the production of low-carbon steel in Cardiff.

With circular steel available for projects, the construction industry will be better able to deliver for the future. That means designing for performance and longevity, building with confidence and delivering on accountability and compliance through responsible specification.

This is only possible with a steel supply chain that is grounded in the principles of circularity. By sourcing, processing and melting scrap in the UK and creating low-carbon steel for domestic use, we can deliver the reliability, resilience and transparency required for the construction sector.

For contractors on the job, that means steel that meets specification, that delivers provenance and that shortens supply chains. For investors, circular steel underpins confidence. And, for the UK economy – to which the steel industry is crucial – it means more investment, safer jobs and elevated responsibility.

Steel is essential to the construction industry and the way forward is circular.

Find out how 7 Steel is leading the way on circularity here.