Steel is at the centre of the circular economy. Steel is a permanent material – this is to say, it can be recovered and recycled endlessly, without losing its essential properties.
Steel production, use and recycling naturally follows a circular pattern, with steel products returning to the cycle once their service life has ended.
The large volumes of steel produced in Europe every year – 160 million tonnes – are made with large amounts of scrap steel. 56% of EU steel is made from scrap, with around 100 million tonnes of scrap steel recycled every year.
In 2020, the EU published a Circular Economy Action Plan. This Action Plan is an important step in developing a truly circular economy in Europe.
Brussels, 8 May 2025 – Seventy-five years ago, on 9 May 1950, the Schuman Declaration laid the foundation for European unity, placing coal and steel at the heart of a unique peace project that has brought unparalleled prosperity across the continent and beyond. As the EU commemorates this milestone, the fate of Europe’s steel industry will once again determine Europe’s future.
Brussels, 19 March 2025 – The Steel and Metals Action Plan, unveiled today by the European Commission, provides the right diagnosis to the existential challenges facing the European steel industry. Concrete measures need to follow swiftly to reverse the decline of the sector, re-establish a level playing field with global competitors, and incentivise investment and uptake of green steel in the market.
Brussels, 26 February 2025 – The Clean Industrial Deal, unveiled today by the European Commission, acknowledges the strategic role of the European steel industry and the existential challenges it faces. Yet, concrete solutions are either left open for later decisions, such as those on global steel overcapacity and loopholes in the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), or addressed with incomplete measures, as in the case of energy prices. Without structural solutions to these issues, laudable initiatives on lead markets, local content and circular economy risk being insufficient to turn the tide, notes the European Steel Association (EUROFER).