We Recycle More Steel Than Plastic. Why Does It Still Pollute So Much? | World Wide Waste

Steel is responsible for about a quarter of all industry-related greenhouse gas emissions. We make more and more of it every year, and even steel made from scraps isn't exactly "green." An Australian steelmaker is working with scientists to clean up the industry.
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We Recycle More Steel Than Plastic. Why Does It Still Pollute So Much? | World Wide Waste

[@potato11teen]

I can add some input on why it's so hard to manufacture with recycled material. Manufacturers like to use specific alloys because it creates consistency in production. Even seemingly insignificant small things like metal cups, utensils, random small components need to be made of a specific alloy because that's what the machines used to manufacture the item is specified to run. Even tiny tiny changes in the metal can throw off the malleability or work hardness which can make using metal with random impurities a neverending headache.

[@greeleyestateslove]

Old machines?... Idk but giving up is not the solution. We need to invest in new ingratitude or better infrastructure.

[@randomegg6199]

@@greeleyestateslove tf r u on about

[@KainYusanagi]

Mhm. I do think that there needs to be more willingness to use varied steel alloys in more things, though. Precisely manufactured items are not the be all, end all of production lines- simple sheet steel doesn't need to have specific alloys for most things that it's used for, for example. So long as it operates within a generalized range, it's perfectly feasible to use for general use situations like that, unlike with, for example, building I-beams, or surgical tools, or stainless steel (which is so because of its particular alloy composition). Additionally, more research needs to be put into chemical separation of alloys to reclaim the separate alloy components efficiently and sustainably.

[@TheMapman01]

@@KainYusanagi seems that there may be no way to do that in an economically viable way right?

[@Mayurbhedru]

@@KainYusanagi no impurities cause unpredictable behaviour. You don't want your steel spoon to degrade and shade so unknown metal in to your food

[@FRISHR]

*Remember:* it cost money and energy to recycle, so always reduce and reuse first.

[@farmerboy916]

Finally someone else saying it.

[@carkawalakhatulistiwa]

Communists

[@carkawalakhatulistiwa]

capitalism always expects consumption growth. How about we reduce consumption so we become communist later

[@sujankaku6406]

Then why every one teasing me when I'm using my old car

[@logans3365]

@@sujankaku6406because the world is full of ignorant people, be proud of the resources you are saving by using your old car until it’s not a car anymore.

[@jimmurphy6095]

Props to this company. They sound like they're doing the right things. There is only so far you can take recycling. The trick is to find somebody who needs (most) of what you create as waste as a feed stock. A number of very valuable metals were mentioned as alloys that could be separated for profit. Further reducing the actual amount of waste to dispose of.

[@scootergrant8683]

Exactly. Hit the nail on the head. It's all well and good being able to recycle certain materials but you also have to seek a market that you can then on-sell that.

[@mushmush4980]

On the bright side, almost 1 third of steel being recycled is a huge win.

[@deepika2644]

but 2 third is wasted

[@aaroncousins4750]

Idk, seem like a low number to me

[@Dragonbornabc123]

It's not 1/3 of steel being recylcely Over half of steel is recycled The 1/3 figure was yearly consumption as consumption is constantly increasing

[@Gerald.69]

not really. Thats still inefficient. It should be 99%. Resources are finite

[@mushmush4980]

@@Gerald.69 yeah but it's better than the typical 5-10% i hear with most other things

[@leviblackwood3258]

It's not really polluting, it's the mining process that is. Some steel mills are ran on hydroelectric dams. Clean energy. Plus all that recycle. The population continues to grow and so will the demand. It's common sense

[@olivierbeck7310]

Dams are renewable energy but the complete opposite of „green“ Dams are probably the worst source of energy for the enivironment there are

[@ninethirtyone4264]

@@olivierbeck7310 you got a source to back up your bold clami?

[@racist4595]

@@ninethirtyone4264 destruction of natural water flow

[@Ralzone]

@@racist4595 makes sense. at least fusion reactors or fission idk the correct name are getting closer to be actually usable. i have a feeling that until the end of this year it will be ready.

[@robert2690]

@@olivierbeck7310 Dams uses water. Solar uses the sun. Wind turbines uses the wind. Coal and gas are a LIMITED resource. Eventually, it will run out. So, WHEN that happens what are you going to rely on now? If we all agree on nuclear power, ok but in the meantime, what are we going to use if coal and gas runs out? This is why solar, dams, and wind turbines are important. At least, you have something to rely on

[@therealspeedwagon1451]

To me another reason why steel and aluminum and glass is recycled more is because of their economical value. Steel is used a lot more than just making plastic bottles or bags or figures. You can get a lot more money and there’s an obvious purpose for steel than plastic

[@KrolPawi]

Plastic is also used in nearly everything. From bottles and lego through computer chasis to buildings and cars. Its just that plastic production is so damm cheap that even the 9% recycling that i have seen thrown here in the comments is quite an amazing achievment q

[@therealspeedwagon1451]

@@KrolPawi yeah but that isn’t so obvious. Plus what you said about cost. Glass and steel costs a lot more so it makes more sense that those would me recycled more

[@InvalidUser_]

@@therealspeedwagon1451 I think another reason is that plastic is quite new. Steel and glass have been around for tens of thousands of years

[@_Ekaros]

The true difference is that steel and aluminium are mix of metal atoms. Just heat them up in right conditions and cool down and you don't really lose anything from original manufacturing process. Glass is similar, but oxide, there is bunch of different glasses, but still relatively simple melt down again. Now issue with plastics is that they are complex long chained chained molecules. And those tend to break when heated up, essentially burning or ruining the properties. And so you can't really burn of the impurities like you can with metals and glass either... They are inherently different types of materials with plastics having much more limitations in handling and recycling.

[@danicatempleton6745]

We had a talk from a recycling company at work once and they said that the things that get recycled are absolutely based on profit/cost. There are apparently some plastics, such as shopping bags, that are recyclable, but not profitable enough to do. These plastics can get stuck in sales/shipping limbo when their market value fluctuates low, and they might just get trashed anyways

[@Boo-pv4hn]

I’m glad they try and independently verify it

[@MrPLC999]

A single active volcano like Hunga Tonga produces more pollution than the entire human race. And there are some 200 active volcanoes all the time.

[@code-dredd]

*> I’m glad they try and independently verify it* You don't _know_ that they actually try... only that that's their _claim_ ...

[@alanwatts8239]

@@MrPLC999 And you couldn't be more wrong, we produce more CO2 in three DAYS than all active volcanos in the world produce in an entire year.

[@PHlophe]

Penny, they said they couldn't verify the source.

[@omarspost]

They better stick around. Need them to lure in the terminators.

[@stogie0608]

🤣🤣🤣🤣 facts man!

[@royk7712]

True. Without them, there would be no steel lake for them to take a bath

[@variableknife4702]

Same reason as concrete - massive amount of energy to extract it initially, then huge amounts of heat to process it.

[@KK-xz4rk]

Steel and concrete are not polluters. The energy we use to produce them is the polluter. We just need clean energy.

[@snarkylive]

@@KK-xz4rk The components used in concrete production (firing limestone) and steel production (cooking coke) are carbon emitters, as is the energy used to make them (oil, coal, gas predominantly), its a double whammy of carbon emissions. Every pound of concrete produced releases almost a pound of CO2. Every pound of steel produced releases almost 2 pounds of CO2. Even if you run your concrete or steel plant on solar panels and rainbows, the cooked limestone and coke still releases a ton of carbon into the atmosphere. That's one of the things this video discussed, finding alternatives to coal for coke production: things that are almost pure carbon from the beginning, like discarded plastics. Some plastics are really gross though, so using something like PVC is going to release chlorine and ABS or Nylon will likely release nitrous oxides, but plastics like Polypropylene would just release hydrogen.

[@stormelemental13]

Also the chemical reaction itself. The burning coal produces carbon monoxide, which is what strips the oxygen of the iron oxide ore and turns it into metallic iron. It is very, very difficult to replace the carbon monoxide. And with concrete, you have to burn off some of the carbonate in the calcium carbonate into order to turn it from limestone into the lime that forms the core ingredient of concrete. You have to remove that carbon and oxygen or you don't have concrete.

[@seneca983]

@@stormelemental13 "It is very, very difficult to replace the carbon monoxide." There are facilities (at least planned or under construction) that use hydrogen instead of carbon as reducing agent when refining iron ore. Of course, that only makes environmental sense if you have a lot of low-emission electricity available for electrolytic hydrogen production.

[@stormelemental13]

@@seneca983 Yes, you can use hydrogen as the reducing agent; however, it has some serious challenges. First as you mentioned, it's not very environmentally friendly if you're getting your hydrogen from methane, the most common source of commercial hydrogen. Second, that means having a lot of hydrogen gas on hand which is difficult and dangerous to store. Adding the risk of catastrophic explosion to an industrial site is a concern. Third, using hydrogen as the reducing agent can cause hydrogen embrittlement. I think it is worth pursuing, but I am more hopeful for molten oxide electrolysis. No chemical reducing agent is needed. Downside, it uses an absolute butt-ton of electricity.

[@tuuguu1438]

Lately, I’ve contacted my local cafes, restaurants etc. to give me their milk tops. Many declined, but some accepted. Since the caps are made out of HDPE, I can use my oven to heat them and make toys, screw presses even an alternative for wood! Sadly, here in Mongolia there is lots of corruption and people are usually rude. So people here don’t really care about recycling since the “developed” countries can do it “for” them. It’s really hard here since China closed its borders to us and prices are slowly rising…

[@TechWithNiccolo]

I really would love to visit your country someday! I am really fascinated by it :)

[@tuuguu1438]

@@TechWithNiccolo ok...

[@espanadorada7962]

Good luck!

[@XenogearsPS]

Was a bright and interesting comment then it got dark quick

[@tuuguu1438]

@@XenogearsPS I hear my neighbors arguing and beating their kids everyday

[@sinephase]

dude of all the actual problems that need a real solution because they're wasteful by design, steel's only problem is in the design of products that are made to fail and not be repaired

[@danielmiddleton2900]

So true. That is why “green energy” is a lie. The ppl that tell u to buy “green” r the same ppl that make the products that can’t be repaired r the same ppl who create “green energy” products. They r only in it for the money and if all they have to do is tell u it’s “green” then ppl buy it for that lie.

[@louf7178]

The catch is all things will fail and/or people just get tired of them. So, "planned obsolescence" is not as evil as perceived, BUT it's often dictated for other reasons e.g. profit.

[@danielmiddleton2900]

@@louf7178 I would rather make that decision myself then have it forced upon me by someone else. Planned obsolescence is indeed as evil as it sounds. U don’t get upset when a 2 thousand dollar washing machine breaks within 6 months of ownership? Cell phones die exactly at 2 years? Or the fact they r made of glass? Which means u need to buy a case for 70 bucks so ur 2k glass phone won’t shatter on the first drop. All while Apple says they r “going green”. If a lie is not evil I don’t know what is

[@louf7178]

@@danielmiddleton2900 Like I wrote, those are, likely, the other instances. Another circumstance is due to getting the initial purchase price to "get the sale" - and there will be consequences. I'm not sure how you think you're going to choose failure time. Phones: they reduced effort in quality mostly because of "new in two" years. Glass, anything else would scratch too easily.

[@frankreynolds9930]

@@danielmiddleton2900 You also have to think about money. These companies are not a charity. They are doing everything they can to reduce something while also trying to make money.

[@Steve-sd7wk]

Steel actually has less carbon than cast iron, so it was really the ability to remove carbon from the alloy that allowed us to make lighter more malleable steel. Cast iron is technically harder.

[@MrSetermann]

hardnes in a technical sence, not coloquialy, since steel has higher tensile strenght and less brittle... also steels like a4 would by most people be considdered harder since they are so horible to work with.

[@Steve-sd7wk]

@@MrSetermann correct, hardness refers to abrasive resistance, malleable refers to toughness and tensile strength is ductility.

[@mareksicinski3726]

Well cast iron is a kind of steel

[@Steve-sd7wk]

@@mareksicinski3726 no, it's not. By definition cast iron has >2% carbon and steel has

[@KainYusanagi]

@@Steve-sd7wk by definition, steel is simply, "a hard and tough metal made by treating iron with great heat and mixing carbon with it.", which would in fact make cast iron a variety of steel. Cast Iron, however, is iron that is, well, cast; that is, the molten metal is poured into a mold and then left to cool and harden, aka the castmold process.

[@beyondtwominutes]

There is always a trade off regardless of what actions are taken. Never a perfect solution. Never anything that is perfectly "green".

[@axeman2638]

anything green is red on the inside, CO2 is plant food, more is good.

[@a.sahmed2639]

@@axeman2638 isn’t CO2 a waste product of photosynthesis?

[@axeman2638]

@@a.sahmed2639 no, that would be Oxygen, CO2 is one of the inputs.

[@a.sahmed2639]

@@axeman2638 oh I’m dumb sorry

[@scootergrant8683]

@@axeman2638 But in some cases you can find the opposite. But in almost all cases it is CO2.

[@jordanwade517]

Love seeing the small-ish city where I live be featured on large channels

[@AK_Studioz]

Wow

[@lurkingarachnid7475]

takes a lot of energy to heat up steel

[@terrystephens1102]

Great to see some Australian initiatives to make the steel industry more climate friendly 😃👌👏👏👏

[@axeman2638]

man is not even a significant contributor to CO2, the vast majority of it come from natural biological process in soil and water.

[@user-ru7he6qj2w]

Yea why do they even need cheap plastics since they are banning nerf guns

[@Chernobog958]

@@axeman2638 before man everything was in balance. The oil that we pump out has been there for 100 million years.

[@elus89]

@@Chernobog958Storing oil rather than returning it to the atmosphere so that plants may thrive is not in fact balance. Man's delusions have no end!

[@life42theuniverse]

The recycling process for steel is mostly just the application heat. Plastic on the other hand a possible mixture of hundreds of polymers that have few features to distinguish them from each other. You could also just burn it all and build new polymers from the ash and gases. The ash doesn’t come out in the mix you want, so you need to filter it, then you need to do some chemistry to make new polymers...

[@wwjccsd]

How dare you use actual science to highlight the problems that virtue signaling people ignore

[@Alex-pj8nz]

Using scrap steel has been around since the industrial revolution.

[@mrsock3380]

The iron age starts at 1200 bc, industrial revolution started in the 18th century, are you trying to say they didn't recycle a metal that changed the face of the world for 3000 years?

[@sankang9425]

@@mrsock3380 They probably did melt down old swords or something but not so Globally and Professionally.

[@alexclark4792]

@@sankang9425 Obviously. They didn't have the ability to ship one country's waste to another to recycle it.

[@SA-xf1eb]

More small, modular nuclear power plants are needed for a low carbon economy. New designs are significantly safer.

[@asomedude21]

4 to 5 thousand tons of coke a year….. sounds like a lazy Tuesday on Wall Street

[@killman369547]

Your thinking of a different kind of coke. You don't want to snort coal coke dust unless you want to get miner's/black lung disease.

[@InvalidUser_]

@@killman369547 its a joke

[@Slavicplayer251]

because of lime and petroleum coke plus the energy needed to produce both those and the steel it’s self

[@simonseal3836]

To really dumb down this episode in one line: steel=iron+carbon, carbon bad.

[@Slavicplayer251]

@@simonseal3836 yep

[@seneca983]

@@simonseal3836 "steel=iron+carbon, carbon bad" That's not really a good summary because the carbon that stays in the steel doesn't harm the climate. It's the carbon that combines with oxygen and escapes into the atmosphere.

[@Slavicplayer251]

@@seneca983 well no the carbon in the steel is removed along with the alloy metal in furnaces because if you don’t do this the steel’s properties will be different every time so the carbon is removed and then the correct amount is added back in along side other alloying metals

[@seneca983]

@@Slavicplayer251 Do you have a source for the carbon being removed? I wasn't able to find any mention of that despite searching.

[@VasjaLar]

БЕРЕРАБОТКА ОТХОДОВ МИНУС КОРРУПЦИЯ = ХОРОШО!

[@roander1337]

Was not expecting this video to be about something from my home town!

[@jensschroder8214]

Not only steel but also stainless steel, copper and brass, aluminum and other metals are collected separately in Europe. Titanium chips are even locked away. Sorted there are high prices for the chips or leftovers. But used paper and cardboard is also gladly paid for. Glass also sorted by light and dark. Plastic only if it's guaranteed to be one type, and even then it's hard to find a use for it. Maybe park benches or other applications with simple tasks. Burning plastic and using the heat is often easier.

[@Bandit69ply]

Oh yeah brother. It's the same way in Canada. I take whatever i pick up and sort the metals myself to make more money. It's a hobby for me, not to get rich obviously. Lol

[@stuartmorganbmx]

you can weigh in metals you will struggle to weigh in plastics Germany used to not too sure if it still does but you could return a plastic bottle and get money for it which would mean more people would not want to just throw them away and the homeless who we shouldn't rely on to clean up after us would collect the bottles and cash them in

[@austinhernandez2716]

That's what I do with metal. Steel is the least valuable(about $0.08/lb where I live, compared to $3.00/lb for copper), but it's the most common, you're always gonna find it somewhere.

[@pietfunk4696]

Still does

[@robertscrimger6044]

Since steel is magnetic and easily separated- why does any steel wind up in landfills?

[@iunnox666]

Because it's not worth the giant magnet and staff to sort it out, plus you would need a whole extra area for sorting before you take it to the trash and scrap piles. Garbage transfer stations would have to be twice as large for the same amount of garbage.

[@andrianamcconkey8876]

I see you're using cylinders for a mast hoist. Does the rig have a telescopic mast or single piece?

[@bmo14lax]

To all steelworkers, thank you 👍

[@scottnunnemaker5209]

There are too many different types of plastic and it’s impossible to sort so it’s harder for companies to recycle it. It all has to be sorted, both for material and color. We need people to be recycling plastic at home really… companies can’t take the risk of a product having a flaw because of the material used, but as a private citizen you can get together with a few people and pool resources to get the equipment you’ll need and then start taking your everyday plastic and make stuff with it.

[@scottnunnemaker5209]

@@morscovium8881 no, like melt that shot and make planks to build yourself a colorful mixed plastic deck or planter boxes or a fence. I wouldn’t recommend reusing plastic that you are going to eat or drink out of very many times as the plastic chemicals can leak over time. Need a new bookcase? Make it out of your old plastic. Need new flooring? Make it out of your plastic waste. The equipment is just a bit pricey which is why I would recommend getting together with your neighbors and collectively set up and share.

[@austinhernandez2716]

I'm a scrapper so I know about steel being wasted. You see it everywhere. And many stupid cities make it illegal for you to pick up people's trash, you gotta have a commercial license to do it. Doesn't stop me though. I recycle lots of it and make money off of it.

[@chitrachopra1497]

👍

[@sv-et7gq]

👍👍

[@fakename1656]

Unsung heroes, people are so wasteful

[@thomasdevasia7087]

Very informative.

[@kuvceebxab1]

we really need more of these recycling facities in Australia. We just have too much scrapped steels everywhere you look. Might as well turn them back into good use and litering the landscape with them.

[@logans3365]

The real key is a solid way of recovering recyclables in the first place, just throwing everything in a landfill is very wasteful, second only to our over consumption in the first place.

[@sinisterthoughts2896]

There are a lot of issues. Scrap steel has such. A low value it isn't economically viable to haul in for scrap. Also many scrap yards get picky about what metal you pull in since some forms, such as wire, can ve hard to manage. Not to mention some metals can be taboo because of residual radiation(it's a thing, they pull out Geiger counters). And steel just isn't steel, as mentioned there are countless allows, each for a specific task, and recycling steel for a task means identifying and recycling specific alloys.

[@jorgovan-ni9kz]

Thanks for telling me this. Im sick and tired of videos going so slow to tell u stuff when they can in 2 minutes... Morons... Thanks again though!

[@Bandit69ply]

Not where I'm at. I myself will separate different metals because they're worth more on their own. I have NEVER experienced what you're talking about. They shred whatever comes in and the shredder is set up to separate the non metal and aluminum.

[@andrewscott8892]

Scrap yards aren't picky they take all metal, it just comes down to the price they pay you. Clean metal is worth more but they take trailers full all day

[@eklectiktoni]

I don't know where you live, but in my area scrap yards pay well for any scrap metal - aluminum, steel, copper, etc.

[@MAGWolf]

demand is high yet local recyclers only give you like 2cents per lb of steel. So of course it ends up in landfills.

[@Bandit69ply]

I recently took in 460 lbs and got 64 dollars. Scrap steel is such a big deal where i live that's its almost impossible to find any on the edge of the road to pick up. I take the wiring, brass, aluminum and stainless steel out of whatever i pick up, of course depending what it is. To me the steel is secondary to the rest of the Non- Ferrous metals.

[@Poonamsmartkitchen]

Great

[@chrisp9046]

3:50 I got a little to excited there for a second 👀

[@jayvirrajgor427]

Just make a iron farm No pollution just ignore dying iron golems

[@saveimageas...9352]

You're a genius.

[@enolopanr9820]

Nah eventually you would get some woke vegan who would advocate for iron golem rights

[@jayvirrajgor427]

@@enolopanr9820 no i don't think it will matter as long as it will be cheap like Chinese goods made by slave labour concentration camps exclusively

[@saveimageas...9352]

@@enolopanr9820 just put pro-CCP slogans on your 20Amp electric fence that keeps the golems from escaping , and boom , not only will the complaining stop , they will defend you .

[@SpeakHearSeeNoEvil]

I 'steel' can't believe we're not recycling enough 🙂

[@septromnation7840]

🙂

[@sinisterthoughts2896]

I give it a 6 out of 10. Not bad, but not memorable either.

[@fad5official]

Good work

[@dufus7396]

The whole cycle should change at point of design manufacture and consumption of consumer goods

[@samsawesomeminecraft]

0:30 actually, based on a metallurgy class I am currently taking, steel is actually invented by removing carbon from common cast iron, which had too much carbon in it.

[@stormelemental13]

There are different ways to do it. If you smelt the ore in a blast furnace and get it to a liquid state, the method we use today, you end up with 'pig iron' which is a cast iron. This process adds too much carbon to the iron. Then you need to reduce the carbon content down to what you need by force air, or today oxygen, through the liquid metal, burning off excess carbon. This is part of why iron and steel production is so carbon intensive. However, that was not the process used in the beginning. The lower temperature furnaces used for most of history couldn't get the ore hot enough to achieve a liquid state. Instead, you heat the ore enough that the silicates, rock, melt and you are left with a spongy solid iron mass and molten slag. This 'bloom' of iron would be very heterogenous, with bits of rock still in the iron, many voids, and very importantly, small amounts of steel on the outside where the iron had been in contact with the fuel source. This was the primary source of steel for most of history. Additionally wrought iron could be made into steel by the process of case hardening, coating the iron in a carbon source, typically charcoal dust, and then putting it in a oxygen free environment, usually by wrapping it in clay, and then heating it for hours. This would transfer small amounts of carbon into the surface of the iron, giving the steel case around the iron core. This was how files were made. The grooves were cut in the softer iron, then the file would be hardened into steel.

[@maskcollector6949]

@@stormelemental13 The fact is less is known about metallurgy secrets than so-called historians would like to let on. The most likely scenario is a blacksmith adding carbon directly to iron and working it in, not painstakingly taking bits of steel off of the edges of iron in the fire... or just burning off the impurities and having a high carbon iron in the first place. Thinking we couldn't get iron hot enough is just a farce, we've lost a lot of technologies to time - but any good smith knows you never let it get molten in the first place. Pig iron sucks. A smart man would see the steel created and make his own by adding more carbon... it's the law of common sense. It's unfortunate that "educated" people don't have any common sense anymore. I don't appreciate authoritarian comments like this that don't cite sources or give references or dates, it's merely regurgitation on your part here without being grounded in common sense.

[@SrenNielsenMadklub]

You've got a Producer, a Senior Producer, a Supervising Producer, a Deputy Executive Producer and an Executive Producer. Why do you need five producers for a 5 minutes flick? The Lord of the Rings (running time: 686 minutes) only needed four...

[@amorag59]

All those guys working on this and none of them to fact check 0:27. The marvel of modern steel was *taking the carbon out* of the mix to make steel. The coke is the heat source in a preliminary step, the carbon later gets taken out with oxidization.

[@seneca983]

@@amorag59 "The coke is the heat source in a preliminary step" That's not its main purpose. Coke/carbon is used as a reducing agent when refining iron ore. It combines with the oxygen in the ore to liberate the iron.

[@amorag59]

​@@seneca983 Coke is the "fuel", don't split hairs, in the context of my comment, the high carbon content coke is not there to add carbon to the steel. This doesn't make sense. The marvel of steel was figuring out how to take the carbon out to make steel...

[@seneca983]

@@amorag59 "the high carbon content coke is not there to add carbon to the steel" I didn't say that it's there to add carbon to the steel. I said that it's there to take the oxygen out from the ore. That's its main purpose.

[@amorag59]

​@@seneca983 What you're doing is called a red herring, although you are correct that the coke may serve a higher purpose, you are shifting the focus away from the main point. Its not necessary that we know its use beyond it being a "fuel" or "heat source" chosen for the job. The video wrongly suggested the high carbon in the coke is there to chemically add carbon to the finished product to make steel. This is wrong.. You don't make steel by adding carbon to iron.

[@LVIS-a]

A friend of mine might actually be an iron refinery, because he too uses a lot of coke

[@davidarundel6187]

What of the coal gas generated while making coke ? Is it used in the production of coke , or steel recycling , or some other process within the mills ?

[@eklectiktoni]

As bad as steel is, it really is one of the greenest parts of the industrial sector.

[@cameronwallis7024]

The extra syllables that bloke adds to saying “Steel” like stee-yull.

[@Ranitha_veeramachaneni]

They can use the carbon powder used for making those tiles in the other video

[@Nataliah3r3]

A lot of People don’t even do the basic recycling things need to be done as well. But less and reuse is better.

[@icesizzle5449]

Imagine being a senior researcher and still being clueless

[@frozenintime]

Sounds like a rewarding and stimulating career

[@icesizzle5449]

@@frozenintime I was just thinking to myself “ no matter what I’ll never be as happy as the senior researcher of recycled steel”😭😭

[@axeman2638]

universities are full of them, most people have been brainwashed with lies and as a result are completely clueless, anyone that think man's tiny contribution to the .04% CO2 fraction of the air drives the climate is completely clueless.

[@icesizzle5449]

@@axeman2638 my mannnnn, you know what’s up.

[@axeman2638]

@@icesizzle5449 not as much as some, more than most.

[@johnwick860]

workers there are Superman, they are "man of steel"

[@sinisterthoughts2896]

Long running joke with steel smelters and steel workers.

[@dufus7396]

I collect "steel" from council kerbside pick ups they have once a year rotating through Brisbane suburbs. When I drop off at yard I cringe at all the coppers, alloys etc mixed in the mountain..dont even want to think about the plastics..

[@moonbeam8487]

Wow I hope that can figure that out for our planet about recycling plastic in the mix to.

[@logans3365]

We need to just stop making so much plastic. So many plastic bottles of water, when one glass or hide can last for decades.

[@qhuizatlantis8484]

He is the real man of STEEL

[@30769s]

My main concern is if recycled steel is weaker than new steel. For something like ball bearings or tools sure I'll gladly take the recycled steel over the new one but coming from a carpenter, I wouldn't want to put a recycled steel beam as a weight bearing rafter over a new one. Hopefully they'll get a breakthrough finding something that's nearly as pure as new steel and something as good as coke with recyclables

[@DontScareTheFish]

Wouldn't that really depend on the application. If recycled steel was weaker (I'm not sure if that means it's more elastic or more brittle), can't you just have a larger steel beam into houses and similar. Granted bridges and high rises would be out of the question.

[@tandemwings4733]

@@DontScareTheFish No.

[@_Ekaros]

No, for ball bearings I want the good stuff. They must be very hard and very hard wearing to work right. For uses of steel beams where we aren't working at edge of performance less is acceptable. From 20x or 50x to 10x safety margin in residential is good enough.

[@elus89]

Why though? We have tons of coal and tons of iron. Lets use it effectively instead of being afraid of it. We already know how.

[@36526]

I learnt something new today! :)😁😋😛👏

[@Swarmah]

Its very easy to say, why steel is so recycled. Its expensive, so companies are ready to pay people, so they recycle it, and people are always looking for large ammounts to recycle it, cos its extra payday. For plastics, they already ask us in stores to pay some deposits, etc. And its far cheaper than steel, so companies wont pay you large sums of money to recycle it.

[@braincell4536]

A good idea would be a way to capture the carbon escaping from these processes like adding a filter on the chimneys

[@furqanbajwa6647]

Most of the carbon escapes out as CO2 so its not practical

[@chitrachopra1497]

@@furqanbajwa6647 can CO2 be trapped and broken down into carbon and oxygen? Oxygen can be used to fill oxygen cylinders

[@Hawk7886]

@@chitrachopra1497 not possible without using more power, which contributes to the generation problem all over again

[@chitrachopra1497]

@@Hawk7886 what about using solar power

[@baduploadschedule1015]

@@chitrachopra1497 Very high initial cost and land usage, power from stuff like oil, coal and especially natural gas is super cheap

[@woutervanr]

Before watching the video, I'm going to guess it's because the way we recycle it uses loads of fossil fuel like petrol to transport it and coal to melt it down.

[@buttercrazy30]

Very close use coke (purified coal) to make steel

[@JP-jr4fx]

Imagination and pray will not recycle this material

[@nalgene247]

Oof missed the mark on this one bud

[@StephenGillie]

These are done with electric arc furnaces, right? How many solar panels would it take to produce enough electricity to remelt all recycled steel? What would it take to make solar steel?

[@davidfreeman2522]

Can anyone tell us what the percentage of co2 is in the air. Also, was it ever higher in previous years.

[@joeybaseball7352]

Do they use jet fuel to melt it?

[@MelbourneArchviz]

"IT GIVES HOPE" we don't need hopes we needs facts and numbers recycling isn't based on feelings but on actual amounts you take off landfill and re-use.

[@emoAnarchist]

if it was cheap and easy, we'd be doing it already. it's easy enough to say "not good enough" but it's what we got, and we're heading in the right direction. that's how research works. that's why there's hope.

[@maryannrussell7255]

you are talking about a woman that actually is doing something for our earth. she very optimistic with her experience in developing new products from different kinds of scrap. like plastic. in case you missed it. they are using her facilitys to test the things they trying.

[@SuperEHEC]

"One of the most recycled materials on earth" i heard rumors jupiter is ahead of us in that aspect....

[@BloodyIron]

This is pretty exciting!

[@jefferydieu6730]

You guys need to be looking to the third world countries for the pollution from Steel. I get so tired of American industry constantly called major polluters. In the US we have to work with some of the most strict environmental rules in the world. Point your fingers to the real polluters like China and India.

[@tannhauserr]

Cope

[@vilester]

American consumes more then anyone else per capita and it easy for you to point your finger and say X is polluting so much when you literally outsourced all your manufacturing to other countries. Only one way to reduce pollution is to reduce consumption.

[@mushmush4980]

China and India have nearly 3 billion people total. Americans already produce more per capita at 0.3 billion, and proportionally the average citizen of either country uses less of mostly everything than an American. We need to hold industries accountable yes, but most of the biggest polluters on the planet are American and European based companies if we're not counting raw materials mined for energy. You are right about holding China and India accountable though (arguably much of the middle east as well as ExxonMobil and other American companies) as they're the ones producing most of these fossil fuels related to energy consumption, like oil and coal.

[@Proskaters6]

@@mushmush4980 very well put and agreed

[@greeleyestateslove]

We are buying all the shit produced in China... Lol.

[@asketchup1441]

in the netherlands the steel factory tata steel is planning (being forced) to be coke free in the next 10 to 15 years by using hydrogen to make the steel with DRI technology

[@prolarka]

They could use the heat of the products they make to preheat the incoming materials instead of wasting it all in the air while letting them cool.

[@keptick]

Yea I had the same reaction. Weird that they don't try to recuperate the thermal energy at all.

[@woltews]

this has been done for over 100 years ( specifically, the heat of the blast furnace is used to pre heat the incoming air and also generate steam to power the equipment ) but sum items properties are related to how quickly they cool ( heat treating ) like the balls for rolling mills and so you can not simply Dump them in water to make steam to power the plant s much as you might want to because the balls must cool slowly so they do not become brittle .

[@mikeanderson1722]

We can and we do, it's called a Consteel furnace. The trouble with them is that the feeder equipment breaks down a lot from the high heat and heavy loads... scrap metal is brutal on conveyors, not to mention sometimes flammable or even explosive when you get unexpected surprises from the scrap dealer. (automation engineer for a major steel company here).

[@prolarka]

@@mikeanderson1722 I would imagine the workaround to that could be to heat the feeder only to a temperature that the conveyors can stand. There also could be heat exchanger pipes ran above the furnace outfeed conveyor. Then this heat could be used for preheating as stated before, heating the offices, nearby buildings, houses, a buffer container for warm water. If there is much more heat than can be used this way - I doubt -, that could be used for electricity generation.

[@Palestineexists]

4:45 We consume 4 to 5 thousand tons of coke a year 👍🏻 Nice

[@acatreassuresyouthateveryt7842]

"If it's easy to repurpose, why steel still major source of pollution?" Is it just me or this question feels really dissonance?

[@sh7de553]

It is, and we all just watched a 5 minute ad about scrap metal thanks to that clickbait.

[@kerosblue5609]

Mining and smelting and coke

[@johanarnfinnlvold5989]

Stop "recycling" plastic. Just the washing of dirty plastics consumes huge amounts of energy. Burn the plastic in modern garbage-incinerators, as it lets you recycle the heat-energy as electricity , as plastic, ton by ton contains almost as much energy as fuel-oil, which still has to fuel the incinerators. Given a sufficiently high temperature of the combustion-process, almost no "real" pollutants are ventilated from the incinerators. Mainly water and CO2 are ventilated to the atmosphere, while the rest is mainly fly-ash, which can be buried, or used as an additive in concrete.

[@PHlophe]

Johannes, plastic does not evaporate out of thin air, lil dude.what do you make of it

[@johanarnfinnlvold5989]

@@PHlophe What is your point? Heat plastics sufficiently, and it evaporates. Add oxygen, and it burns just as well as evaporated fuel-oil. If the combustion-temperature is sufficiently high, you will have "complete combustion", which means no black smoke will be released, and with modern cleaning of the combustion-gases, you avoid releasing NOx and SO2 to the atmosphere.

[@bltzcstrnx]

@@johanarnfinnlvold5989 the pollutants still have to go somewhere. These modern scrubbers create lots of solid materials.

[@johanarnfinnlvold5989]

@@bltzcstrnx Yes, but they are regarded and treated as fly-ash, and will not be released to the environment.

[@elus89]

Holy! One of the first comments here that is actually educated and on par with common sense! Thank you!

[@guamazolopez6456]

I don't know if they are doing this right now, but the coke for steel should be burned and tuned into electricity and when it's been completely burned its sent to the steel plant, it would be cleaner since you wouldn't need other coal to do the same thing

[@magicdreamlab8042]

Very interesting 🧐

[@emilyarchibald1900]

I would think it might be simple and profitable to run trash before it goes through landfills past a giant magnet to attract all of the metals. If 7% of landfills is metal, that would be a huge win for the environment.

[@tymonm452]

As a soon engineer I can tell you that, yes you technically can do this, HOWEVER it is super hard to make this practical. You can't really melt two different types of metals together and there is literally thousands of them. Not only that but metal that goes to the landfills is often full of impurities and so on. Basically you would need an enormous sorting facility just to send that 7% to 50 different recycling facilities. It would be very complicated to even decide if it is actually worth doing ( in terms of both money and pollution that would be caused during such a complicated process)

[@woutervanr]

Well for one thing, not all metals are magnetic. Also you're assumming that a piece of thrash is completely seperate (it can irl be tangled up, stuck together, etc) and 100% the same material. And after that you get the whole sorting process Tymon writes about.

[@ofthecross]

There are municipal recycling facilities that do separate metals from plastic with specialized equipment. These recovered metals that may or may not have attachments is then sent to auto shredders to liberate the metals from the plastics and/or waste and size down correctly for sale to smelters. These metals may be ferrous or non ferrous which will require different recovery methods which will require further processing in specialized plants.

[@chitrachopra1497]

@@tymonm452 what about melting everything together. If the density of the metals is different they would collect in different layers and you could just separate out the metals from each other.

[@sinisterthoughts2896]

The amount of extra processing would be huge, and not all metal is magnetic.

[@redneckcaseyjones]

Business Insider: We Recycle More Steel Than Plastic. Why Does It Still Pollute So Much?

[@abdulhamid2369]

I always thinking what happened to the iron and steel that left rusting. The steel just disappearing little by little. So where does the steel go? It turn to rust. And then does the rust can be extract back from the soil? Or can plant absorb it? Anyone please answer this. I really want to know the answer

[@oblivion_2852]

Rust doesn't make steel disappear. Rather rust adds to it. Rust is the process by which instead of being attached to neighbouring atoms in the crystal the iron atoms attach to oxygen. And since the atom only has so many "hands" the process of changing the attachment from the crystal to the oxygen causes the crystal to breakdown and fall apart

[@kyarumomochi5146]

Because recyling is hard So hard that its less efficient to actually reclye stuff Thats why most companies and communities lie about it We don not recyle anything

[@picklechin2716]

3:14 then why not try fixing the one that pollutes most and not the one that does some of it? Would be a shame if business insider made a deal with the guy they are shitting on, so he can make more new steel because people are kicked up into a frenzie about the recyled steel, and not the new steel.

[@Flederratte]

0:29 this is not correct! Steel differs from cast iron by having a lower carbon content! So they figured out how to remove excess carbon from cast iron to make steel!

[@stormelemental13]

Not exactly. Cast iron is what you get when you use a blast furnace. This is a furnace hot enough to actually melt the iron. However, this is not what was done for most of history. Until fairly recently, iron was mostly produced in bloomery furnaces. These don't get hot enough to melt iron. Instead you do the opposite, you melt the rock around the iron, and there's some pretty cool chemistry involved, and the iron ore turns into metallic iron without actually melting. This leaves you with what we call wrought iron, which has very low carbon. When working with wrought iron, you need to figure out how to add carbon.

[@Flederratte]

@@stormelemental13 Thanks for your informative comment. I did not have the knowledge of how it was done historically. I assumed cast iron was the source of iron. Removing excess carbon from molten iron is how it is often done today. So my comment is not correct because of historical reasons but not wrong from a material science perspective ;)

[@akhileshmachiraju1521]

Today for many things metals are not necessary, but love for metals has not gone even though new materials are being invented every year. If only there are impositions on metals so that we replace them with composites, we can reduce pollution, energy demand and earth mining.

[@amorag59]

Very few materials beat the strength and low cost of steel though.. glass fiber composite aren't exactly the best to recycle. Carbon composite are expensive and not the best for the environment while processing the carbon.

[@LTG1985]

Now thats what i called Balls of steel

[@Gerald.69]

Shout out to my garbage man, who throws my bag of recyclables that have a bunch of steel cans directly into his dump truck with garbage. The reason only 50% gets recycled is from people like him.

[@louf7178]

New punctuation for sarcasm --> ¡

[@gregorymalchuk272]

You have to take the stuff to the local recycling center or pay for pickup service. Also, a lot of facilities have human sorters and automatic sorting machines and don't need the waste separated first.

[@Hawk7886]

If you know he does it, why would you keep throwing them away instead of taking care of it?

[@Zeverinsen]

It might be an idea to make international guidelines to standardise industrial steel alloys, in order to make it easier to recycle. Additionally, the recycling process itself needs to be revolutionised. The public needs an easy way to recycle properly, and should be given incentives to do so. That won't be enough, and there needs to be funds allocated to detailed recycling on site, so as much as possible gets sent to be recycled. There needs to be more innovation when it comes to recycling, but the industries need monetary incentive *AND* regulation. Otherwise the change doesn't come fast enough.

[@ApplePotato]

There are already steel alloys standards like SAE. The problem is it is impossible to sort the steel once its been painted or mix in a pile. The only reason why steel is easy to recycle is because it is magnetic and we can pick it out of our normal trash. We really need to stop those single bin curbside recycling problem and teach people to SORT their recyclables.

[@volkhen0]

In EU everything is sorted to bio, plastic/metal, paper and glass. Some cities also do color glass and transparent glass. System works pretty well. Bio waste is composted, metal is recycled and plastic is recycled or burned in special power plants near cities that deliver heat and electricity to that city.

[@Zeverinsen]

@@volkhen0 I live in Europe too, and in my country we're trying to recycle and sort as much as we can as well, but the development seems to be slower than it should. But making it easier for the consumer to sort their waste is the easiest step, and we should start to spread successful operations internationally (like the bottle recycling machines we have in many countries). However, we still need to develop machinery that can accurately sort heaps of trash, metallic or not, so we can try to recycle as much as possible. Not only that, but we also need new methods to recycle waste, especially clothing. There's also a greater need to just make products that produce less waste, are more easily recyclable and are produced in less wasteful/polluting ways. Today's progress is not enough, and there needs to be international change on every stage/platform.

[@sinisterthoughts2896]

Who has the authority to tell every nation how to do things, and how would they hold them accountable? I'm not saying you're wrong, but the solution will require more details than somebody should. Many issues which effect everyone have solid courses they can follow to alleviate the problem, but implementation is usually the biggest issue. Kind of like Greta Thurnberg, "just use the science, listen to the scientists" but which ones? And using science is just inane. There is science in everything we do. There is more to it than the technology, there is also the funding which you mentioned, but there is also the question of who regulates it, under what authority they regulate it, what principles do they follow, what is the impact on people's lives etc... Sorry for the rant, I was not trying to preach, it's just many good suggestions out there end before people address the practical points of the matter.

[@adamjankowski4315]

One word... Energy... either in time or actual energy... thats why it costs more. Her buck teeth are also amazing... She could store a whole meal between those front teeth.

[@adityaacharya2329]

Glowing steel balls look cute BTW

[@adamragone2111]

Someone relapsed after seeing this video

[@Cypher791]

There’s a New Newcastle? 🙃

[@jamiele1431]

should try making mithril, adamant or even rune instead

[@curiosfiligree8479]

Veena Sahajwalla the scientist in this video has done some amusing work, from researching the technique of using rubber tires as coke, to creating mini factories to take mixed materials and turn them into tiles similar to marble. I enjoyed her ted talk

[@l1ncs]

in short: recyclable replacement for coke needed

[@sinephase]

steel is less than 1% carbon though LOL

[@seneca983]

@@sinephase That's not the point. The carbon that stays in the steel is not in the atmosphere heating the climate. The coke/carbon is used as a reducing agent in refining iron ore. It combines with the oxygen in the ore and liberates the iron. That causes carbon dioxide emissions.

[@tomasvrabec1845]

Why is recycling steel a pollution? It's a metal and need a lot of energy to be worked on...

[@bobg.3206]

Depending on who you're talking to, you exhaling is pollution. We tend to find criticism of anything that isn't perfect. Particularly from people with no experience in the industries they are criticizing.

[@tomasvrabec1845]

@@bobg.3206 I was making a joke not a criticism... Not everyone who comments means to insult something. I don't work in steel industry no. The max i got to was overall CO2 calculation of steel construction, including type of production and ans travel. So i am actually aware of the co2 difference not being small. :D but it's true.. It needs a lots of heat, thus any preparation can pollute and sourcing together with waste management are a big part depending of region, company ext

[@bobg.3206]

@@tomasvrabec1845, I'm sorry I should have been more clear. I was completely on the same side as you. I was pointing out the criticism in the video. They seemed to think because it is called 'recycling', which they mechanically see as good, no matter what, that it should be pollution-free. My comment about breathing was based on the view that we are also a detriment to the planet simply because we exist. I thought you were right on.

[@tomasvrabec1845]

@@bobg.3206 AhhhI see now. :D happens

[@alparslankorkmaz2964]

Nice video

[@temptemp4174]

Bring back steel mills to the UK!

[@catgolfer1]

This was a great video! I was a machinist for 50 years and wish EVERY wanna be environmentalist should see this.😺

[@MZ99698]

It was about recycling, and the plant used renewable energy and was researching more environmentally friendly ways of creating the steel - why would any “wannabe environmentalist” have a problem with this video?

[@aiosquadron]

The point isn't to eliminate emissions. The idea is to, at least, make the amount of emissions equal to, or less than the rate the climate can regenerate.

[@MrSetermann]

nobody would complain about elimiting emissions, but for now thats the goal yes.

[@elus89]

@@MrSetermannI'll complain then, because I know the Earth would be greener with more CO2 emissions, which is the unmistakeable truth from deduced from decades of satellite images and greenhouse gardens. I'm sure those that have not had the opportunity to use and thrive off a fossil fuel vehicle would agree. The best thing for the Earth and those living on it is more CO2 emissions, not less.

[@vladimir5915]

que cosas, vi el video completo si subtítulos y no caí en cuenta que estaba en ingles hasta el final

[@Thaliathegodslayer]

I mean I use Glass, paper and shop local less then 10 trash bags a year when most families here make 1 day. most of my trash is plastic waste from packaging that I cant buy a product without.

[@ryanhakalmazian]

the real way to make money just start selling coke

[@Mynameischef]

heroin might be better

[@bryandepaepe5984]

Can't break the laws physics and the 1st law of thermodynamics is a biggie when it comes to manufacturing and recycling. Windmills are using more carbon fiber and it's made from plastic which is derived from crude oil refining. The number of steps of processing and energy use to get the final product is not accounted for by climate activists when it comes to their solutions to make "green energy".

[@seneca983]

"Windmills are using more carbon fiber" Wind turbine blades are made from glass fiber, not carbon fiber composite. Carbon fiber would be much more expensive. The amount of material used is not large relative to the amount of electricity produced.

[@lothean2099]

Wish we could recycle all plastic the way we recycle steel.

[@Master-ls2op]

its a pain in the but to get recycle metal to be pure and cost more. its the sorting purification and cleaning of the metal to being pure that is a pain. its easy to have a little copper or some other metal that will cause cracking or some problem.