Circular Economy - Reduce - Reuse - Recycle

Steel is a permanent material: never consumed, but continuously transformed; the use of natural resources for producing steel the first time is therefore a transformative process, making iron available in a more “practical form” for subsequent uses (life cycles), and thereby reducing the medium/long term pressure on natural resources.

Circular economy has the objective to reduce the creation of waste systematically throughout the different life cycles of a product. This is in contrast to linear take-make-dispose economy, which wastes large amounts of embedded materials, energy and labour.

ArcelorMittal Sheet Piling is a major actor in the circular economy, aiming for better productivity and reduction of waste. Steel sheet piles can be reused several times in temporary applications, thus reducing the environmental impact each time the sheets are re-used. At the end of life, when they cannot be reused, 100% of the steel can be recycled.

Additionally to the traditional sales, two business models catalyze the contribution of sheet piles to circular economy:

• short / medium term rental (by manufacturer or trader): contractors can rent the sections they need for each specific project, thus optimizing the use of the steel as well as their required investment,
• sales and buy-back: after the end of the execution of a project (temporary application of sheet piles), the contractor can either choose to keep the sheet piles, for instance if he has another project where he can use the same sections (or if he found a buyer for the second-hand sheet piles), or to return them back to the manufacturer at a price negotiated before the sales (provided the piles are in a good shape).