Recycling steel for HS2
23 August 2023
Old car parts, radiators and shopping trolleys are being given a new lease of life in the construction of HS2 as part of a recycled steel initiative.
Over the last two years, the UK steel industry has benefitted from orders worth over £170 million from contractors building the first phase of the high-speed railway linking London and the West Midlands.
More than 1 million tonnes of steel are forecast to be needed for standard construction materials, a further 200,000 tonnes for rails, switches and slab track, and 15,000 tonnes for rolling stock.
At Celsa Steel UK’s two factories in Cardiff, recycled scrap metal is melted in an electric arc furnace to produce 80 per cent less carbon emissions than basic oxygen steelmaking. The molten steel is then turned in to billets and rolled to make rebar for use on HS2 construction sites.
High volumes of the steel are delivered by rail to reduce road transport and related emissions.
Gabriella Nizam, Celsa UK’s Head of Sustainability, says that 98 per cent of the raw material used is UK-sourced scrap metal. The company aims to reduce its Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 50 per cent by 2030 and to become a net positive company by 2050.
Photo shows steel from Celsa UK being precision bent and welded. Credit: HS2 Ltd
