Circular Economy

Climate Action

Biodiversity & Nature

Resilient Business & Society

Circular Economy

Steel

1. 71% of the iron-bearing material (IBM) required
to make crude steel comes from iron ore,
suggesting the potential for increasing
scrap-use in the value chain. For instance, a 15%
increase in overall steel production with
increased EAF (Electric Arc Furnace) and IF
(Induction Furnace) outputs will increase scrap
consumption by 13.4% and lead to savings of 0.8
million tons of iron ore. This reduced extraction
of virgin ore will lead to benefits in terms of
reduced GHG emissions and improvements in
air quality by the avoided processes throughout
the life cycle, from extraction to end-of-life.

2. The study recommends a transition towards
hydrogen-based DRI (H-DRI) technology. A
complete transition to it would translate to
savings of 17 to 19 MT of coal.

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Paper

1.In the pulp and paper industry, the scope for
increasing efficiency in mills using recovered
paper as the fiber source is significant. The
paper industry depends heavily on imported
waste paper: estimates from this study suggest
that 32% of recovered paper demand is met
by importing recovered paper.

2. The study recommends ensuring the
standardization of the quality of the imported paper. It
is estimated that it could cut the requirement by
0.86 MT (a reduction of 20% from current levels).

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About intervention

Recognizing the importance of data-backed policymaking, the Centre has recently completed a study on Resource Efficiency in the Steel and Paper Sectors: Evaluating the potential for Circular Economy. The objective of this is to assess the prospects of RE/CE and its benefit to Climate Change mitigation.
A systems-based Material Flow Analysis (MFA) tool was used to identify the scope for Resource Efficiency and Circular Economy in the steel and paper sector. The project used a combination of first-hand data collection from manufacturing units, secondary data collection, and interaction with relevant industry stakeholders (from the two sectors). A paper based on the Report’s findings was presented by the Centre at the World Resources Forum conference held in Geneva on 23-24 October 2019.

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Publications

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Greenhouse gas mitigation across the cement value chain

Roadmap to 2030

IPP PET Design Guidance Report

India Plastics Insight Report

IPP Material flow of PET Report for Web

Greenhouse gas mitigation across the cement value chain

Roadmap to 2030

IPP PET Design Guidance Report

India Plastics Insight Report

IPP Material flow of PET Report for Web