World Steel Association: Circular Economy or the emergence of new ways to promote the use of steel

On August 24th, Nae Hee Han, director of the World SteelAssociation's economic research and statistics department, said that the WorldSteel Association will hold a meeting in Brussels on September 10th around thetopic “The impact of the circular economy on the steel industry”. In the steelindustry to raise awareness of the circular economy.

Han Laixi pointed out that the idea of circular economy isthe mainstream thinking of today's world economic development and involves allaspects of society. If the early circular economy thought mainly focused on themanagement and recycling of waste, then the new generation of circular economythoughts about energy efficiency from production to consumption.

What does it mean for the steel industry to promote a circulareconomy? Han Lai-hee said that if existing building materials can be reused innew construction projects, the market demand for newly-produced constructionsteel will be greatly reduced. Due to the infinitely recyclable nature ofsteel, the recycling economy will promote new ways of using steel.

Han Laixi believes that in order to promote the developmentof circular economy, it is necessary not only to enhance social awareness, butalso to explore a feasible and effective circular economy management model. Shefurther pointed out that digitization can be an important driving force forpromoting the development of circular economy. For example, big data canimprove material traceability and thus enable companies to achieve betterproduct lifecycle management.