product stewardship circular economy round

Recycling Propels the Circular Economy

From humble beginnings in 1915 as a single scrap metal recycling yard in Dallas, Texas, CMC has grown to a Fortune 500 company recognized as an industry leader in steel recycling and steel manufacturing. Leveraging the sustainable qualities of steel and its ability to be recycled infinitely without loss of its inherent properties is the cornerstone of CMC’s circular business model. Incorporating circular economy principles into our company is not an aspiration or far-off goal; it’s in our DNA.

Recycling large quantities of end-of-life and pre-consumer scrap steel into new steel products all but eliminates the need for sourcing virgin raw materials. In addition, our shredding and scrap recycling processes efficiently separate non-ferrous metals like copper, brass and aluminum that can be remade into new products used in buildings, automobiles, airplanes and more. Additional products from the steelmaking process, such as steel slag, are sold for use as a base material in highways, asphalt and other products. Other materials that come from the steel process are recycled for further beneficial use. For example, we send approximately 99% of our EAF baghouse dust, collected from filtered air off our furnaces, to recyclers who extract zinc and other valuable metals for use in the production of paints, tire rubber, fertilizers, animal feed and more.

Our Steelmaking Process: A Model of Efficiency

Our vertically integrated manufacturing process saves more than 19 billion pounds of scrap metal from being landfilled annually.

  • We utilize 99.8% recycled scrap steel to make new products.
  • Every ton of CMC steel avoids the mining and usage of 2,500 pounds of iron ore, 1,400 pounds of coal and 120 pounds of limestone.
  • Using electricity as our primary source of energy leverages the continued decarbonization of the electricity grid and allows us to utilize more renewable energy sources.

We have made important changes to our Website Privacy and Cookies Policy. By continuing to use our site you are agreeing to the terms of the policy. To understand what this means for you and your data, please click here to access our Website Privacy and Cookies Policy.

Dismiss