R E S E A R C H A N D A N A LY S I S

Influence of Input-Scrap Quality

on the Environmental Impact
of Secondary Steel Production
Melanie Haupt, Carl Vadenbo, Christoph Zeltner, and Stefanie Hellweg

Keywords:
Summary
electric arc furnace
energy In electric arc furnaces (EAFs), different grades of steel scrap are combined to produce the
industrial ecology targeted carbon steel quality. The goal of this study is to assess the influence of scrap quality
life cycle management on the recycling process and on the final product by investigating the effect of the scrap mix
recycling composition, and other inputs, for example, preheating energy, on the electricity demand
scrap grade
of the melting process. A large industrial data set (empirical data set of 20,000 individual
heats recorded during 2.5 years at a Swiss EAF site) is analyzed using linear regression. The
Supporting information is linked
influence of scrap grades on electricity demand are found to correlate strongly with their
to this article on the JIE website respective quality; specific electricity demand is up to 45% higher for low-quality scrap than
for high-quality scrap. Given that chemical compositions of scrap grades are highly variable
and often unknown, average concentrations are determined using linear regression with
scrap input as the predictors and the amounts of the investigated elements in liquid steel as
the dependent variable. The lowest quality (highest copper and tin concentrations) and the
highest electricity demand in the EAF are found for scrap recovered from bottom ashes of
municipal solid waste incineration. Although even with low-quality scrap input steel recycling
is environmentally superior to primary steel production, the optimization potential in terms
of energy efficiency and resource recovery, for example, through pretreatment, seems to
be substantial.

Introduction mental impact in terms of climate change (Nuss and Eckelman

2014).
Iron, mostly in the form of steel, is by far the most utilized
Material recycling can help to mitigate extraction of natu-
metal because of its mechanical and chemical properties and
ral resources, to lower environmental impacts, and has recently
its availability. In 2014, the annual production reached 1.67
been promoted by the European Commission (EC) to increase
billion tonnes (0.2 tonnes/capita/year) (World Steel Asso-
material independency (EC 2014; Sevigné-Itoiz et al. 2014). In
ciation 2015). Müller and colleagues (2011) found that iron
2007, 83% of the disposed steel was recycled (weighted global
stocks in the United States, France, and the United Kingdom
average) (Reuter et al. 2013). Today, however, only 25.6% of
have reached a plateau of 8 to 12 tonnes per capita whereas the
the steel production worldwide takes place in electric arc fur-
global average iron stock was determined to be only 2.7 tonnes
naces (EAFs) using scrap as input material (World Steel Asso-
per capita. In 2008, global metal production, the iron and steel
ciation 2015). EAFs are, however, gaining importance globally
producing industry, was responsible for 71% of the environ-
(Egenhofer et al. 2013).

Address correspondence to: Melanie Haupt, Institute of Environmental Engineering, ETH Zurich, John-von-Neumann-Weg 9, Zürich, ZH 8093, Switzerland. Email:
haupt@ifu.baug.ethz.ch; Web: www.esd.ifu.ethz.ch/

© 2016 by Yale University

DOI: 10.1111/jiec.12439 Editor managing review: Valerie Thomas

Volume 00, Number 0

www.wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/jie Journal of Industrial Ecology 1

 R E S E A R C H A N D A N A LY S I S
Given that steel is used in numerous applications and re-
cycled through many collection and pretreatment routes (e.g.,
mixed metal collection, tinplate collection, disposal in residuals
to municipal solid waste incineration [MSWI] with subsequent
removal of scrap, optional shredding, and others), several scrap
grades are generated. Scrap grades vary substantially with re-
gard to their chemical composition and their geometry (see,
e.g., Stahl Gerlafingen AG and Swiss Steel AG [2010]) and
therefore also in their price. Because of this, blending problems
in determining the optimal scrap mix have been an important
topic in the iron and steel industry for several decades (see,
e.g., Fabian [1958]), focusing mostly on identifying the most
cost-efficient blend (Dutta and Fourer 2001).
Theoretically, metals can be recycled infinitely, but in prac-
tice losses, logistical constraints, and contamination of the sec-
ondary material impede the complete closure of metal cycles.
In the case of steel, only some tramp elements can be separated
from iron when melted (Reck and Graedel 2012; Hiraki et al.
2011; Reuter and van Schaik 2008). Impurities or alloying el-
ements, such as copper, nickel, and tin, remain alloyed in the
steel because they are nobler than iron and not volatile (Reck
and Graedel 2012; von Gleich et al. 2004). Carbon steel quality
is therefore strongly influenced by scrap-input quality, which,
in turn, depends on the alloying elements and the degree of
material separation. Ohno and colleagues (2014) performed a
material flow analysis to determine the unintentional flows of
alloying elements from end-of-life vehicles and showed that 8%
of the scrap metal input in EAF is alloying elements introduced
unintentionally. Nakajima and colleagues (2011) investigated
technologies and the thermodynamic potential to reduce, for
example, the copper content, but showed that removing these
impurities from molten steel is hardly possible. To reach the
final quality target, dilution with high-purity input materials is
needed. This leads to so-called dilution losses, because these
materials are then no longer available for higher quality appli-
cations (Ohno et al. 2014; Nakamura et al. 2012; Verhoef et al.
2008). von Gleich and colleagues (2004) showed that exces-
sively high copper concentrations prevent a significant amount
of scrap from being reused. Also, Kral and colleagues (2013),
presenting a clean cycle strategy, mentioned the missing consid-
eration of multiple recycling loops and long-term effects, such
as the accumulation of impurities, which should be taken into
account when investigating recycling.
In addition to the output quality, electricity is a crucial pro-
cess parameter in steel production by the EAF route, given that
it acts as the key driver for both the environmental performance
and the financial viability of the steel production from scrap
(Fröhling et al. 2012). Substantial differences in the electricity
demand of EAFs, based on changing blends of scrap grades, are
expected (Fröhling et al. 2012). This phenomenon, however,
has not yet been investigated using industrial data.
The trade of steel scrap is often financially motivated, given
that scrap prices are usually negotiated monthly and can vary
substantially (EUROFER 2015). Quality requirements can also
lead to international trade of some scrap grades. Scrap recovered
2 Journal of Industrial Ecology
from the bottom ash of Swiss MSWI plants, where 50% of
domestic municipal solid waste is treated (FOEN 2012), is often
exported for quality reasons: It has a low yield in recycling, high
amounts of adverse tramp elements, for example copper and tin,
and a low bulk density. Ashes and strongly agglomerated iron
oxides (scales) are found on the surface or in niches of this steel
scrap because of the high temperatures in MSWI (Zeltner 1998).
During the thermal treatment, copper is partially liquefied and
forms either nuggets, which can be separated in a subsequent
treatment step, or melts and can adhere onto ferrous metals.
MSWI scrap is therefore an example of low-quality scrap, which
is traded because of its quality and for which the final pathways
and the use is often unknown. It is, for this reason, of high
importance when increased recycling rates are targeted.
This study investigates the effects of varying scrap blends on
the production process for given output qualities in an EAF by
deriving the degree of input dependency of the electricity de-
mand. For this, site-specific industrial data covering 2.5 years of
operation are analyzed in close collaboration with industry. The
variance of electricity consumption based on changing scrap in-
put is first established using statistical models and subsequently
translated to environmental impacts using life cycle assessment
(LCA). These environmental impacts are analyzed for individ-
ual scrap grades to show the influence of the material’s quality
on the recycling process. In addition to the influence on elec-
tricity demand, the contribution of impurities from the individ-
ual scrap fractions to the concentrations of the final product is
examined for average production.
Methods
A commonly used methodology for the determination of
relationships between the inputs and outputs of a process is
multiple linear regression (MLR) analysis (e.g., Fröhling and
Rentz 2010). MLR analysis is used to investigate the influence
of several predictors on one dependent variable by generaliz-
ing the simple linear regression model by allowing for many
terms rather than just the intercept and a single slope. An MLR
model seeks to find estimates for which the sum of squared
errors is minimized. In addition to linear models, predictive
modeling with machine learning algorithms can be used to un-
cover patterns, including nonlinear relationships (Kuhn and
Johnson 2013), within data. The machine learning algorithms
neural network and random forest have been tested within this
study. A description of the methods as well as the results can be
found in the Supporting Information available on the Journal’s
website. All calculations were performed within the software R
(version 3.0.2) (R Core Team 2013). For the MLR, the lm()
function and the mgcv package (Wood 2015) for normal and
constrained linear regression were used. As metrics of perfor-
mance, the coefficient of correlation (R2 ), the root mean square
error (RMSE) observations standard deviation ratio (RSR)
(Moriasi et al. 2007) and the percent bias (PBIAS) (Gupta
et al. 1999) were calculated.

Empirical Data and Description of Variables
To determine the influence of the scrap mix on the out-
put quality and the process parameters, industrial data were
investigated using the aforementioned statistical models. Data
was collected through the internal reporting system at one EAF
in Switzerland during the period between January 2011 and
April 2013. A total of 20,557 heats (furnace batches) were re-
ported during this time period, of which 95% of the reports
from individual heats were complete and therefore included in
the analysis. The data set was collected from a finger-shaft EAF.
An illustrative figure as well as a description of the primary data
can be found in the Supporting Information on the Web. Using
this process technology, the scrap is preheated by the off-gases
from the melting process of a preceding heat in a shaft above
the furnace (Worrell et al. 2010; Remus et al. 2013).
Extreme values are normally related to changed operating
conditions. Therefore, only 95% of all complete data sets were
taken into account, with the highest and the lowest 2.5% quan-
tiles of the data regarding the dependent variable (i.e., the
electricity demand [ED] and scrap grade compositions) being
excluded. Further, all heats that were smaller than 50 tonnes
were neglected (95% of all charges were in the range of 78 and
90 tonnes). To allow for training and testing of the models,
the data set was split into 70% training and 30% test data.
The analysis was performed with 1,000 randomly split data
sets. The results of these 1,000 model runs were then averaged.
Statistical Models
In order to model the electricity demand, 13 measured pro-
cess parameters were selected as predictors for the MLR model
(equation 1 and table 1). The 13 predictors encompass the vari-
ous scrap grades, energy sources, and auxiliary materials (includ-
ing natural gas, coal, preheating energy, oxygen, and lime). For
the ED of the EAF (EDEAF), a logarithmic transformation is
used, because the ED cannot be below zero and is right-skewed.
A prerequisite for linear regression is the independence among
the predictors of the model. The independency was tested by
calculating the Pearson’s correlation matrix as well as the vari-
ance inflation factors (VIFs) (Stocker 2015).
log10 (EDEAF) = β0 + β1 · preh + β2 · O2 + β3 · cc + β4 · fc
+ β5 · lime + β6 · ngb + β7 · MSWI
+ β8 · shredder + β9 · shearedl
+ β10 · sheet + β11 · turning
+ β12 · shearedh + β13 · return (1)
Chemical compositions of scrap grades vary substantially and
are not regularly sampled. The steel output, however, needs to
meet compositional specifications for some chemical elements
to ensure its physical properties. To reach a targeted steel qual-
ity, the scrap blend is chosen according to an internal recipe
minimizing production cost and is then treated by adding oxy-
gen (and a later deoxidation), oxide-forming elements, and
Haupt et al., Influence of Scrap Quality on EAF Steel Production
R E S E A R C H A N D A N A LY S I S
alloying elements (Mazumdar and Evans 2010). The chemical
composition of the melt is the key factor in determining the
quality of the final product. Because the input mix determining
the melt’s composition is already included in the analysis, the
targeted steel quality is not taken into account as an additional
model variable.
The tapping temperature of the melt, varying between 1,560
and 1,770°C in the analyzed data set, was expected to have
an influence on the electricity demand and was, in a first run,
included in the analysis. The correlation between the electricity
demand and the tapping temperature, however, is influenced by
numerous process parameters as power-off and power-on times
(which, e.g., depend on scrap composition), the different delay
times, and the melting behavior of the scrap and therefore
shows nonlinear behavior that cannot be accurately predicted
in MLR. Neglecting the tapping temperature therefore did not
change the model outcome significantly (results can be found
in the Supporting Information on the Web).
Generally, coefficients (β i ) of linear models describe the
change in the dependent variable if the respective independent
variable is increased by one unit while all other parameters are
kept constant. The current model allows each input param-
eter to be increased by one unit (e.g., 1 tonne of additional
steel scrap would not necessarily induce a change in the other
parameters). No extrapolation or large changes can be investi-
gated, because in this case the other parameters would have to
be adapted. Because a logistic transformation was performed for
the dependent variable, equation (2) was then used to calculate
the individual influence factors (Benoit 2011).
f i = 10βi − 1 (2)
These factors (for predictors i = 1 . . . 13) were multiplied with
the mean absolute ED from the investigated data to determine
the change in the electricity demand, which is induced by a
unit change (e.g., 1 tonne of scrap input) in each independent
variable.
Because the variables are given in tonnes (or kilowatt-hours
[kWh], and so on) of input for all models, the relationship found
can be used to predict the ED per unit of input. To compare
these values to previous studies or to perform an LCA, the
process yield is required to calculate the values per amount of
output product. Although the process yield is normally mea-
sured in steel plants, it was not possible to find the specific
yields of individual scrap fractions or heats because the amount
tapped depends on various further factors. On the one hand, the
volume of the ladle furnaces differs depending on the thickness
of the refractory in the ladles, and, on the other hand, complete
tapping for upcoming maintenance requires an empty furnace,
leading to yields higher than 100% given that material from
previous heats is also cleared. For this reason, the translation
from electricity consumption values per tonne of input to tonne
of output was performed using yield estimates from industry for
each individual scrap grade.
An MLR model (equation 3) including only the seven scrap
grades was used to determine the concentration of copper, tin,
sulfur, and phosphorus in each scrap grade (α 1-7 ). All other
3
 R E S E A R C H A N D A N A LY S I S

Table 1 Variables used as predictors in models to determine electricity demand of the EAF

Shortcut Name Unit Explanation

preh Preheating kWh/heat Energy in preheating, calculated from

duration of past scrap melting process
O2 Oxygen Nm3 /heat Oxygen input by lance to accelerate
chemical reactions
Auxiliary materials and cc Coarse coal t/heat Coarse coal injection as chemical
energy inputs energy and foam producer
fc Fine coal t/heat Fine coal injection as chemical energy
and foam producer
lime Lime injection t/heat Lime injection for refining
ngb Natural gas kWh/heat Natural gas in burner

MSWI MSWI scrap t/heat Scrap recovered from municipal solid

waste incineration bottom ash
shredder Shredded scrap t/heat Scrap grade 17 in Swiss scrap
nomenclature
shearedl Light sheared scrap t/heat Scrap grade 8 in Swiss scrap
nomenclature
Scrap grades sheet Sheet metal scrap t/heat Scrap grade 12 and 14 in Swiss scrap
nomenclature
turnings Metal turnings t/heat Scrap grade 22 in Swiss scrap
nomenclature
shearedh Heavy sheared scrap t/heat Scrap grade 7 in Swiss scrap
nomenclature
return Return flow scrap t/heat Scrap from steel processing (internal
scrap)
Note: The units are given as used within the MLR model.
EAF = electric arc furnace; MSWI = municipal solid waste incineration; kWh = kilowatt-hours; Nm3 = normal cubic meters; t = tonnes; MLR =
multiple linear regression.

process parameters and auxiliary materials were assumed to not
influence steel composition for the four chosen elements and
were therefore omitted. Because the first compositional mea-
surements take place after all material is liquefied, only the
elements that are neither transformed nor evaporated until
that point in time can be modeled. This excludes zinc (evap-
orates below 1,000°C) and carbon (which is added as coal),
as well as other elements. No intercept (α 0 ) was included in
equation (3), assuming that the scrap grades are the only sources
for the chemical elements investigated. For copper, tin, and
phosphorus, almost 100% of each element (98.6%, 96.7%, and
90.3%, respectively) is transferred to the melt, but only 64%
of sulfur is found in the liquid steel. Nineteen percent of the
sulfur is transferred to the slag and 16% to the filter dust (based
on measurements from an industrial plant; detailed informa-
tion can be found in the Supporting Information on the Web).
Therefore, the results were corrected for the shares of elements
transferred to fractions other than the melt. Sulfur, for exam-
ple, was normalized with the factor 1/0.64 because only 64%
of sulfur is found in the liquid steel. The composition of steel
scrap is expected to vary substantially among the different scrap
grades, but also within each grade. Some scrap grades, espe-
cially when only used in minor shares, such as metal turnings
and MSWI scrap, are not homogenized by mixing with mate-
rial from different origins. The model can give an estimation of
average compositional data of all scrap grades used, but not the
variation within scrap grades. In equation (3), mi represents the
amount of substance i (e.g., copper) in one heat (concentration
of substance i multiplied with total scrap input) and α i gives the
concentration of the investigated element in the various scrap
grades.
m i = αi,1 · MSWI + αi,2 · s hr ed d er + αi,3 · s h ear ed l
+ αi,4 · s h eet + αi,5 · tur ni ng + αi,6 · s h ear ed h
+ αi,7 · r etur n (3)
From both MLR models, the 95% confidence intervals of the av-
erage electricity consumption and chemical compositions were
calculated. The uncertainties therefore only consider the data
uncertainty and do not include uncertainties regarding the yield
or measurements.
Environmental Impacts
To compare the total environmental impacts of the steel pro-
duction in EAFs induced by different scrap qualities, the impact
to climate change was assessed according to Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 2013 (100a time horizon).
The environmental impacts of the changed production process,
that is, using less or more energy than average steel production

4 Journal of Industrial Ecology


in EAFs, are calculated using the data set of ecoinvent version
3.1 for the electric steel production (steel low-alloyed, electric,
cut-off by classification, European data set [RER]) (ecoinvent
Center 2014), adapted to the modeled EDs for the different
steel scraps.
Results
Starting from the production data set of one EAF in
Switzerland, statistical models were tested to model the ED
with the ultimate goal of determining the influence of the scrap
quality on the recycling process with a focus on the ED. The
MLR model could explain 30% of the variance of the ED in
the melting process. The remaining 70% come from influences
not included in the model, such as the manual operation of the
furnace, the condition of the refractory material, maintenance,
and malfunctions in the process. The RSR and PBIAS were
found to be 0.84% and –0.2%, respectively. RSR shows that
the RMSE is smaller than the variation in the observed val-
ues (in which case the RSR would be equal to 1), but it is also
clearly different from 0 and therefore not a perfect fit. This is re-
lated to the large inhomogeneity of the individual scrap grades.
PBIAS, measuring the average tendency of the simulated data
to be larger or smaller than their observed counterparts (Gupta
et al. 1999), is very low and highlights the very good fit of the
mean value.
Whereas the correlations between auxiliary materials, en-
ergy carriers, and scrap fractions were found to be between –0.3
and 0.57, the VIFs of these predictors were close to 1, therefore
suggesting a valid model performance (Gefen et al. 2000). The
individual correlations as well as the multicollinearity between
scrap fractions are substantially higher and exceed the toler-
ance of VIF = 10 suggested by Gefen and colleagues (2000).
Their dependency among one another was, however, expected
given that the total amount of scrap input generally adds up to
roughly 80 tonnes (capacity of the EAF). Nevertheless, the test
statistics (e.g., p values) of the found coefficients indicate their
significance and the model therefore remains valid (Stocker
2015).
The values in table 2 were calculated based on the model
described in equation (1). For positive coefficients (β i ), an
increase of the respective variable would lead to an increase
in the electricity demand. Negative coefficients indicate that
an increase in a variable would lower electricity demand. Be-
cause all p values were below 5%, the results can be considered
significant. The suitability of the MLR model was also tested
using quantile-quantile plots, which show that the prerequi-
site for a linear model, normal distribution of the residues, is
reached (included in Supporting Information on the Web).
The influence factors were calculated using equation (2). From
these influence factors and the mean absolute ED, the expected
amount of electricity per unit increase of the independent vari-
able can be determined. For the scrap fractions, these can be
further described as the scrap-dependent share of the electricity
demand.
Haupt et al., Influence of Scrap Quality on EAF Steel Production
R E S E A R C H A N D A N A LY S I S
The results indicate that the preheating of the scrap has
a strong influence on the ED: Increasing the preheating by 1
kilowatt-hour (kWh), the ED decreases by 0.8 kWh, suggesting
a thermal efficiency of 80% for the scrap preheating in the
shaft.
The scrap-dependent share of the ED varies substantially
for the scrap qualities. The final ED, however, should be ana-
lyzed based on the amount of steel produced to also include the
substantial differences in the yield induced by the scrap qual-
ity. Because yields were not available for individual heats, this
factor could not be included in the analysis, but is added only
after deriving the scrap-dependent ED. Comparing the mean of
the scrap-dependent ED (191 kilowatt-hours per tonne [kWh/t]
of liquid steel [LS], weighted sum according to input share of
each scrap grade) with the mean total ED of the melting pro-
cess over the same period (326 kWh/t LS), a difference of 135
kWh/t LS was found. This difference includes the influence of
all scrap-independent variables in addition to the baseload of
the furnace and was added to the scrap-dependent electricity
demand of each scrap grade to calculate the total ED, given
in table 3. The auxiliary electricity used in the smelting plant
(including casting) and in the ladle furnace was also added (59
and 20 kWh/t LS, respectively; sourced from internal produc-
tion reports for the same time span as investigated data). This
allows for the comparison of the ED of the secondary production
from different steel scrap qualities with values from literature.
The ED per tonne of LS varies between 559 kWh/t of steel
from MSWI scrap and 386 kWh/t of steel from sheet metal
scrap.
The ED for individual steel scrap grades was compared to a
ranking of scrap grades based on the Swiss steel scrap nomencla-
ture (Stahl Gerlafingen AG and Swiss Steel AG 2010), taking
the bulk weight and chemical parameters into account. It can
be seen from table 3 that the quality ranking correlates with
the ranking by ED for all but heavy sheared scrap. This can
be explained with other properties of this scrap fraction: heavy
sheared scrap (quality rank 3, but rank 5 for ED) is very coarse
material with a minimum thickness of 6 millimeters (Stahl Ger-
lafingen AG and Swiss Steel AG 2010). A slightly higher ED
is therefore reasonable to melt this material. Generally, three
levels of qualities can be distinguished: high-quality scrap con-
sisting of sheet metal and return flow scrap; low-quality scrap
including MSWI scrap and metal turnings; and an intermediate-
quality comprised of sheared (light and heavy) and shredded
scrap.
The ED of the average process for low-alloyed electric steel
modeled in the ecoinvent database amounts to 424 kWh/t of
steel (ecoinvent Center 2014), which lies within the range of
the calculated values for different steel scrap qualities varying
from 386 kWh/t LS (–9%) for internal return flow scrap to 559
kWh/t LS (+32%) for MSWI scrap. Using the model prediction
of the ED over the entire data set, an average consumption of
404 kWh/t LS was found, which only deviates by 1% from
the measured value (please refer to Supporting Information on
the Web for details). A reference document for iron and steel
production states an ED between 404 and 748 kWh/t LS for
5
 R E S E A R C H A N D A N A LY S I S

Table 2 Coefficients and influence factors based on the MLR and calculated values for the scrap-dependent ED

Coefficient β i Influence factor (fi ) Scrap-dependent ED

[] [%/unit increase] [kWh/unit increase]

β0 4.1291
MSWI scrap 0.0041 0.9%/t input 248 ± 32 kWh/t input
Sheared heavy 0.0031 0.7%/t input 186 ± 14 kWh/t input
Turnings 0.0031 0.7%/t input 189 ± 19 kWh/t input
Shredder scrap 0.0029 0.7%/t input 176 ± 13 kWh/t input
Sheared light 0.0028 0.6%/t input 170 ± 13 kWh/t input
Sheet metal 0.0027 0.6%/t input 166 ± 14 kWh/t input
Internal returns 0.0027 0.6%/t input 163 ± 15 kWh/t input
Fine coal 0.0413 10.0%/t input 2,622 ± 230 kWh/t input
Coarse coal 0.0242 5.7%/t input 1,507 ± 228 kWh/t input
Lime 0.0096 2.2%/t input 585 ± 65 kWh/t input
O2 4.4E-06 0.001%/t Nm3 input 0.3 ± 0.18 kWh/Nm3 input
NG burners 1.2E-06 0.000%/kWh 0.1 ± 0.03 kWh/kWh
Preheating –1.3E-05 –0.003%/kWh –0.8 ± 0.03 kWh/kWh

Note: All p values <<0.01.

MLR = multiple linear regression; ED = electricity demand; MSWI = municipal solid waste incineration; O2 = oxygen; NG = natural gas; t = tonne;
Nm3 = normal cubic meter; kWh = kilowatt-hours.

Table 3 Experience-based yields of individual scrap grades, input-dependent, and total electricity demand (ED) for all scrap fractions

Scrap grade Quality rankinga Yieldb Scrap-dependent ED Total ED

[] (%) kWh/t LS kWh/t LS

Low-quality scrap MSWI scrap 7 72 344 559 ± 44

Turnings 6 82 230 445 ± 23

Sheared light 5 88 194 408 ± 15

Middle-quality scrap Shredder scrap 4 94 187 402 ± 14
Sheared heavy 3 96 194 408 ± 14

High-quality scrap Sheet metal 2 96 173 387 ± 15

Internal returns 1 95 172 386 ± 16

Note: A quality ranking based on the limit values for chemical composition and bulk weight in the Swiss scrap nomenclature is also shown.
a Quality ranking according to limit values for copper, tin, and chromium-nickel-molybdenum and the bulk weight in Swiss steel scrap nomenclature

(Stahl Gerlafingen AG and Swiss Steel AG 2010).

b Yield according to estimates from industrial partner (co-author C. Zeltner).

LS = liquid steel.

electric steel production, with electric arc shaft furnaces being
among the most efficient furnaces (Remus et al. 2013) in this
range.
The environmental impact of different scrap qualities in
terms of contribution to climate change showed that sheet metal
scrap, for which the ED is reduced by 9% compared to the mean
value, has a 5% lower carbon footprint than steel produced with
average scrap mix. The use of MSWI scrap, having a 32% higher
ED, in turn, produces a 16% higher amount of carbon dioxide
equivalents (CO2 -eq). Figure 1 shows the carbon footprint per
tonne of liquid steel. In comparison, producing low-alloyed
steel using mainly primary material by the blast furnace-basic
oxygen furnace (BF-BOF) route induces the emission of 1,751
kg CO2 -eq/t (steel unalloyed, converter, cutoff by classification,
European data set [RER]) (ecoinvent Center 2014), which is
around 4 times higher than electric steel. It can be seen in
figure 1 that the uncertainties are higher for scrap fractions
with smaller input amounts, that is, MSWI scrap and metal
turnings.
Based on an MLR in the form of equation (3), the input
concentrations of copper, tin, sulfur, and phosphorus were cal-
culated for individual scrap grades. The models revealed a co-
efficient of determination (R2 ) of 0.4 for copper, 0.33 for phos-
phorus, 0.28 for sulfur, and 0.15 for tin. Output concentrations
must be explained by the input attributable to mass conserva-
tion principals. Low coefficients of determination (R2 ) high-
light the variability of concentration within individual scrap
grades, which cannot be described with the model. For copper
and tin, limit values for the input concentration are available
in the steel scrap nomenclature (except for MSWI and internal
return flow scrap) (Stahl Gerlafingen AG and Swiss Steel AG
2010), which are used for comparison (figure 2).

6 Journal of Industrial Ecology

 R E S E A R C H A N D A N A LY S I S

1751

700 700
ED: electricity demand (kWh/t LS)

600 600

EI: env. Impact (kg CO2-eq./t LS)

500 500

400 400

300 300

200 200

100 100

0 0
ED EI ED EI ED EI ED EI ED EI ED EI ED EI ED EI ED EI
MSWI turning sheared light shredder sheared sheet metal internal return ecoinvent ecoinvent
heavy (EAF, (BF-BOF)
average
scrap mix)
scrap grades
scrap-independent ED scrap dependent ED carbon footprint

Figure 1 Electricity demand (ED) and environmental impacts (EI) in terms of climate change for the production of 1 tonne of steel from
the investigated scrap qualities. Additionally, the ecoinvent reference for unalloyed steel from electric arc furnace (EAF) and from blast
furnace-basic oxygen furnace (BF-BOF) is given. Uncertainty bars are shown for uncertainties found within the linear model.

a) 0.8 b) 0.06
0.7
0.05
copper concentration (%)

tin concentration (%)

0.6
0.04
0.5
0.4 0.03
0.3 0.02
0.2
0.01
0.1
0.0 0.00
sheet metal
internal returns

sheared heavy

turnings
shredder scrap

sheared light

MSWI scrap
turnings
sheared light
sheet metal

MSWI scrap
sheared heavy
internal returns

shredder scrap

scrap grades scrap grades

limit values from Swiss scrap nomenclature MLR results limit values from Swiss scrap nomenclature MLR results

Figure 2 Copper (a) and tin (b) concentration of various scrap grades from multiple linear regression (MLR). In addition, the limit values
available from the Swiss steel scrap nomenclature are shown. Whiskers highlight the 95% confidence interval of the linear model.

Whereas the copper concentration in sheet metal scrap, tin concentration is close to the weighted average of all scrap
heavy and light sheared scrap and metal turnings were found to grades.
be smaller or equal to that required by the Swiss scrap nomen- Figure 3 shows the regression results for the concentration
clature (Stahl Gerlafingen AG and Swiss Steel AG 2010); the of sulfur and phosphorus in each scrap fraction. For both of
concentration for shredder scrap was found to exceed the lim- these elements, no limit values exist. They are, however, sus-
its. For MSWI scrap, a substantially higher copper and tin con- pected to increase the ED of the EAF given that the furnace
centration was found when compared to all other scrap types. requires a longer operation time to reduce their concentration
Because the internal return flow scrap represents the earlier pro- in the melt. The highest concentration of sulfur was found
duced steel quality and therefore a mix of all scrap grades (for in MSWI scrap, whereas metal turnings were found to have
elements that cannot be removed from the steel), its copper and the highest phosphorus levels. The best performing, for all

Haupt et al., Influence of Scrap Quality on EAF Steel Production 7

 R E S E A R C H A N D A N A LY S I S

a) 0.24 b) 0.05

phosphorus concentration (%)

0.20 0.04
sulfur concentration (%)

0.16 0.03

0.12 0.02

0.08 0.01

0.00
0.04
-0.01
0.00

sheet metal
internal returns

sheared heavy

sheared light

turnings
shredder scrap

MSWI scrap
sheared light
sheet metal

MSWI scrap
internal returns

sheared heavy

turnings
shredder scrap

scrap grades scrap grades

Figure 3 Concentrations of various scrap grades from multiple linear regression (MLR) for (a) sulfur and (b) phosphorus. Whiskers
highlight the 95% confidence interval of the linear model.

parameters, is the scrap from sheet metal. Further, heavy sheared quality steel) is still approximately 3 times higher than the
scrap, consisting of thick individual pieces, shows rather low impact of steel production from low-quality scrap in the inves-
levels of contaminants. For sulfur and phosphorus, the concen- tigated EAF. The meaning of recycling should not be put into
trations in the return flow scrap show a concentration below question, but optimization potentials are highlighted. Pretreat-
the mean of the other scrap grades. This highlights the pos- ing scrap might be an option to enhance scrap quality preceding
sibility to remove these elements by additives and in certain use in an EAF. Through pretreatment, the overall environmen-
process conditions, whereas tin and copper (which are nobler tal impact of recycling may be lowered if the invested electricity
than iron) cannot be removed from melt. or other arising environmental impacts from pretreatments are
Very low phosphorus concentrations were found for internal lower than the reduction in environmental impacts of the EAF
return flow scrap, sheet metal scrap, and heavy sheared scrap. caused by the use of a better-quality scrap grade. Looking at the
These scrap grades are therefore not expected to contribute enormous contribution of iron and steel production to the over-
phosphorus to the output, but rather dilute the phosphorus all impact attributed to metals production, an enhancement in
being introduced from other scrap grades. For internal return this industry could result in significant savings of environmental
flow scrap, the concentrations found are lower than expected impacts (Nuss and Eckelman 2014).
and therefore constraints in the model were tested (a minimal Investigating the correlation between the ED and process
concentration was included according to experts from industry), parameters or compositions based on industrial data also in-
which resulted, however, in lower coefficients of determination cludes uncertainties from unsteady process conditions. The op-
(R2 ; detailed results can be found in Supporting Information on eration of the furnace by different personnel, inhomogeneity of
the Web). scrap and additives, interruptions of the process, and mainte-
nance are factors that could not be included in the models and
therefore lowered the coefficient of determination. The largest
Discussion
uncertainties were found for MSWI scrap, which is plausible
In this article, a unique, large, and comprehensive industrial because only 10% of all heats include MSWI scrap. In addi-
data set was analyzed with MLR. For the first time, the influence tion, the variation in quality within the MSWI scrap and metal
of the scrap quality on the recycling process in an EAF could be turnings are expected to be quite large depending on origin
quantified. Differences in scrap quality arise because of the dif- and pretreatments. Further, these scrap grades are recovered
ferent alloys used, various ways of material uses, and treatments and used in smaller quantities, therefore preventing homoge-
after collection. The ED varies between 386 and 559 kWh/t LS nization through mixing from different scrap suppliers. For all
for different scrap grades, with lower-quality scrap showing up to these reasons, the model can determine the coefficients of this
a 38% higher ED than the average scrap mix at the same EAF. scrap grade with the lowest accuracy. It is important to keep
Higher electricity demands also lead to a higher environmental in mind that the confidence interval given only considers the
impact, analyzed as climate change in this article. The increased uncertainties of the model itself. It does not include the uncer-
electricity demand for low-quality scrap fractions, such as metal tainties that arise because of the estimation of the scrap-specific
turnings or MSWI scrap, increases the carbon footprint of the yields.
steel production in EAF by 16% using the European electric- Chemical compositions of scrap grades are not measured
ity mix. The environmental impact of steel production using regularly, and hence they were statistically derived from the
primary materials in the BF-BOF route (producing a very high- investigated data set. Phosphorus and sulfur might lead to a

8 Journal of Industrial Ecology

 R E S E A R C H A N D A N A LY S I S

higher ED, but do not lead to any long-term reduction in quality ration with industrial partners distributed along the value chain
given that they can be removed in the process. By contrast, tin of this scrap.
and copper harden the steel and therefore are detrimental for
carbon steel quality. Allowable input concentrations are limited
by the steel scrap nomenclature (Stahl Gerlafingen AG and Conclusions
Swiss Steel AG 2010). The concentrations of copper and tin
The present work demonstrates a strong influence of scrap
vary between 0.2 and 0.62% and 0.01 and 0.04%, respectively.
quality on operation parameters such as electricity consump-
Only shredded scrap was found to surpass its limit value by
tion, which is decisive for the process’ environmental perfor-
exceeding the copper concentration by 30%. This had also
mance. Nevertheless, the environmental impacts, in terms of
been previously observed by the industrial partner (co-author
contribution to climate change from secondary production of
C. Zeltner). Copper and tin are expected to accumulate in
carbon steel from all scrap grades, are significantly lower than
carbon steel and, in a long-term perspective, impede the use
for the primary production of steel. This study quantified the
of recycled material in its current applications, for example,
change in environmental impacts for changing scrap quali-
in the building industry. The accumulation of copper in steel
ties. Pretreatment, and therefore the upgrading of scrap quality,
was, for instance, illustrated for Japan in Igarashi and colleagues
might be a promising opportunity to further lower overall im-
(2007). Preventing the accumulation is therefore of importance
pact of steel production in EAFs.
for future resource use.
The use of secondary material can also lead to an accu-
For the steelmaking industry, the results show that high-
mulation of undesirable tramp elements in the recycling chain,
quality scrap input demands less electricity than low-quality
which was rarely considered when evaluating its environmental
scrap and thus decreases environmental impact. This may tempt
performance (Kral et al. 2013). It was confirmed that steel serves
steelmaking companies to only accept high-quality steel to
as a sink for elements, such as copper, introduced by using low-
demonstrate a better environmental performance. But given
quality scrap. This is problematic because the copper remaining
that also secondary steel produced from low-quality scrap is en-
in the steel cycle is not available as a resource, therefore pre-
vironmentally better than primary steel production, all scrap
venting the recycling of copper itself (Graedel et al. 2011; Reck
grades should be accepted in the EAF. Overall improvements
and Graedel 2012). In addition, the accumulating copper low-
can be achieved by increasing scrap quality through optimized
ers the quality of the produced steel and leads to dilution losses
product design, better collection systems, or improved pretreat-
of high-quality scrap. Elevated levels of impurities, such as cop-
ment and sorting of low-quality scrap. For the case of aluminum,
per, will require more dilution, leading to a lower environmental
Gaustad and colleagues (2010) highlighted the potential for in-
performance of recycling, or low-end applications acting as a
creased scrap use by redesigning alloys to accommodate more
sink for this material will be needed (also a relevant topic in
scrap. The redesign of alloys, though remaining within estab-
aluminum industry as described in Modaresi and Müller [2012]).
lished compositional specifications, requires, however, detailed
This highlights the necessity to focus not only on the quanti-
knowledge about the composition of individual scrap grades.
tative maximization of recycling rates, but to also consider the
For this, the results presented on the chemical composition
quality of recyclables and the resulting secondary products.
of scrap grades provide the basis not only to support an alloy
Today, the quality of scrap varies substantially. Pretreated
redesign, but also to optimize scrap mixes depending on the
scrap is, however, expected to have a more stable composi-
targeted alloy, thereby reducing dilution losses.
tion. Within the large-scale experiment, the composition and
Steel in infrastructure and buildings can easily be separated
the yield of MSWI scrap will be measured directly with melt-
from other material; however for other scrap fractions (steel
ing tests of several hundred kilos. Better understanding of the
parts in goods), the quality can be enhanced by increased sort-
MSWI scrap composition will also allow for determining the
ing or shredding before the EAF. In this case, liberation and sep-
concentrations of impurities in other scrap grades with higher
aration of materials is often challenging and could be improved
precision. Moreover, reducing inhomogeneity after pretreat-
by increased attention to these aspects in product design (see,
ment might also reduce the variation of the ED of the EAF and
e.g., Gaustad et al. [2010]). For scrap recovered from MSWI,
it might become possible to associate the ED to corresponding
the separation of copper and tin from ferrous material is compli-
scrap grades with higher accuracy. Finally, from the operators’
cated because of the past thermal process during which metals,
point of view, processing of more homogenous scrap fractions
such as copper, may be melted onto the ferrous metals. The re-
in the EAF may also prevent unexpected interruptions of the
search on the quality dependence of the steel recycling process
production process and curtail rejects attributed to exceeded
will therefore be continued to investigate the effect of pretreat-
limit values.
ing MSWI scrap. Currently, the first large-scale pretreatment
for scrap from dry discharge MSWI bottom ash is being built
(ZAV Recycling AG 2015). A follow-up experiment will ana-
Acknowledgments
lyze the quality improvement reached by this pretreatment and
also assess its overall environmental impact. In particular, the This work was funded by the Swiss National Science founda-
trade-offs between the additional impacts of pretreatment and tion (SNF), national research program 70, and Office of Waste,
better performance of the EAF will be investigated in collabo- Water, Energy and Air of the canton of Zurich (AWEL). Carl

Haupt et al., Influence of Scrap Quality on EAF Steel Production 9

 R E S E A R C H A N D A N A LY S I S
Vadenbo gratefully acknowledges the financial support from the
IRMAR project (grant no.: 11-116775) funded by the Danish
Council for Strategic Research.
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About the Authors
Melanie Haupt is a Ph.D. student at the Group of Ecological
Systems Design in the Institute of Environmental Engineering
at the ETH Zurich in Zurich, Switzerland. Carl Vadenbo is a
post-doc at the Group of Ecological Systems Design in the
institute of environmental engineering at the ETH Zurich.
Christoph Zeltner is leading the quality and environmental
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Stefanie Hellweg is a professor at the Group of Ecological Sys-
tems Design in the institute of environmental engineering at
the ETH Zurich.

Supporting Information
Supporting information is linked to this article on the JIE website:
Supporting Information S1: This supporting information contains an overview of the industrial data used, a detailed
description of models used, and a description of the processing of steel scrap in an electric arc furnace (EAF). Sample
outputs of the models used as well as detailed results of a 14 predictor model, which was not shown in the main article,
are also provided. Further, these supplementary data contain detailed information about the distribution of the investigated
elements in an EAF.

Haupt et al., Influence of Scrap Quality on EAF Steel Production 11