The sustainable loop

In any evaluation of a product’s sustainability credentials, it is important to consider the whole lifetime of that product – from cradle to cradle. The sustainable loop provides an overview of all stages of a products life from raw materials through to utilisation in a building and end of life.

The manufacture of building materials makes use of raw materials, energy and transport, provides employment and can contribute to emissions to the environment. In terms of the products used in construction, the most tangible effects of material choice are embedded in their manufacture, whether it be the processes used or the inherent nature of the material produced. Both the corporate attitude towards sustainability and the nature of the product itself are important in assessing the impact of different building materials. Corus considers care for the environment to be essential, both in terms of a duty to society and to ensure the continuity of business.

All UK sites within Corus manufacturing pre-finished steel are certified to the independently verified international environmental management system, ISO 14001.

Pre-finished steel has long been recognised to embody a sustainable approach to painted metal applications. With over 40 years of experience in this process, Corus is best able to take advantage of the minimised wastage and emissions associated with the quality controlled process used in the manufacture of prefinished steel.

We actively develop our products and processes to reduce their environmental impact to a level beyond mere compliance:

• We are developing increasingly sustainable solutions in line with ISO 9000.
• Our products destined for the domestic appliance market are already supplied free from heavy metals, in advance of the Waste in Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) European directive.
• Our products developed for the automotive industry meet the future End of Life Vehicles (ELV) European directive, supporting future recycling.
• Our work in these areas has been recognised and we received the Business Commitment to the Environment prize in 2004.

The utilisation stage represents the product’s working life, and its performance in use is typically the main reason for its original specification. The quality of the materials used has a major impact on the cost of running and maintaining a building.

Pre-finished steel, and in particular high-quality products such as Colorcoat HPS200® Ultra, are typically used in cladding systems which require minimal on-going maintenance. Colorcoat HPS200 Ultra has a Confidex® guarantee period of up to 40 years – longer than the design-life of many buildings. In addition, over-paint and refurbishment solutions exist for pre-finished steel roof and wall cladding which can extend the functional lifetime of the building yet further.

Applying the general sustainability hierarchy of Reduce – Re-use – Recycle to construction products nearing the end of their practical life, a new hierarchy emerges:

Refubish

• Refurbishing buildings offers a sustainable approach to achieving new facilities without the full cost of newbuild.
• Refurbishment may be done for purely aesthetic reasons or for functional reasons.
• Effective use is made of still-functioning aspects of the building,  thereby minimising both the work carried out and the use of resources.
• Buildings using Colorcoat® products from Corus are ideally suited to refurbishment – whether it be for aesthetic or functional reasons.

Reuse

With careful dismantling and removal, it is possible to re-use some of the materials used in the original construction.

• When removed from the underlying steel structure pre-finished steel sheets can often be re-used.
• While around 10% of total construction steel is reused, 15% of the profiled sheets removed from buildings during the demolition process enter the market for re-use.
• For a number of years, the agricultural sector has provided a market for the re-use of steel buildings.
• The reuse of roof and wall cladding products within the commercial and industrial sector is less common, mainly due to aesthetic reasons.
• Scrap merchants offer metal cladding and wall and roof cladding products
• Demolition contractors are most likely to facilitate the re-use of cladding products.
• Corus is currently researching building envelope designs which will encourage future disassembly and re-use.

Recycle

When construction waste cannot be re-used, wherever possible it should be recycled to re-enter the supplychain at the manufacture stage.

• Steel is 100% recyclable.
• The use of steel scrap does not compromise the quality of new steel.
• Steel’s magnetic properties make it the easiest material to recover from waste streams.
• Scrap is an essential part of the steel production process.
• Every steel plant is potentially a recycling plant.