![Overall steel production and scrap use in steel production of selected countries, 2010–2021. Data obtained from World Steel Recycling in Figures by the BIR. The BIR’s scrap consumption data include home and prompt scrap as well as post-consumer scrap [25]. Before 2021, EU numbers represent 28 member states; in 2021 and 2022, UK has been excluded from the data.](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/388726852/figure/fig1/AS:11431281318498221@1742508556217/Overall-steel-production-and-scrap-use-in-steel-production-of-selected-countries_Q320.jpg)
![Time series of steel scrap availability in the different studies [33,34,35,36,37].](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/388726852/figure/fig3/AS:11431281318358107@1742508557478/Time-series-of-steel-scrap-availability-in-the-different-studies-33-34-35-36-37_Q320.jpg)
February 2025
·
40 Reads
This review studies the availability of post-consumer steel scrap in Europe until 2050. We introduce the indicator potentially available domestic post-consumer scrap (PADPS), which measures the amount of (steel) scrap from obsolete products available for recycling prior to trade in scrap. We analyze material flow studies from the academic literature and international organizations to quantify this indicator. The studies suggest a rising trend of post-consumer scrap amounts until a saturation level is reached and the expected yearly steel product obsolescence of the system stabilizes. Between 2010 and 2050, PADPS is expected to rise by approximately 1.6% per year. We identify in-use steel stocks, recycling rates, and product lifetimes as the three commonly gauged factors determining PADPS. While recycling rates and product lifetimes range comparatively close in the studies, the estimation of in-use stocks displays much greater variation and introduces an element of uncertainty in the estimation of post-consumer scrap amounts that can be expected in the coming decades.