The production of steel is generating diverse risks for the environment, for example greenhouse gas emissions and high amounts of slag which is dumped in giant hills around the steel mills and causes pollution of arable land. At best it is reused for road pavement.
While it is impossible to avoid CO2 emissions within the production process of steel from iron ore and coal, at least the slag can be reused in a profitable manner. Ji Gengxin from China took care of the huge slag deposits around the steel mill of Wuhan. First he separated out the 15 per cent of steel content of the slag with the help of wet magnetic selection, and then the rest was ground to a powder which can be mixed with cement, thus enhancing the strength of concrete for highly resilient construction parts such as pier beams for sea bridges.
This way of slag recycling generates multiple benefits: Waste is given a higher value and re-introduced into industrial processes; large pieces of land are restored for agriculture and a new, highly useful construction material emerges. An innovation according to the principles of the Blue Economy!
