Circular building with steel: how feasible is it in practice?

Van Den Brink Metalworking is characterized by a sustainable view of awareness, cooperation and innovations. The company already realized several circular construction projects. Klaas Roos, director, also saw an opportunity to tackle his own project in a circular way: an extension to the company's own production hall. 'I wanted to experience for myself what it is like to work with recycled steel. Discover what it means in practice.'

Although he managed to snap them up for a regular scrap metal price, Klaas found steel with a story. 'They were riveted girders from the old Palace of Justice. They originated in 1885 and were above the courtroom. If those things could talk, they would have very nice stories to tell. We converted them into columns for our hall.

There's a lot of talk about circular construction. But what does that actually mean? 'It's not as simple as it seems. In essence, steel is a product that lends itself very well to reuse. You can deliver it as scrap and there is a complete logistics system set up to melt it down. But before that, all that scrap is loaded on a ship to China. There they melt it down, often in a heavily polluting way, after which the new steel beams are put back on the ship to us. If you calculate how much energy is lost in this process... It's unbelievable. Then you can really wonder what you're doing.'

'So you would say it should be a lot cheaper and more energy efficient to reuse steel directly here. But even then you run into issues. For example, you have to know what steel you are using. To do that, you have to have it checked and certified. That costs a lot of money and you don't get a certificate with it. Then there is the question of what the steel has been treated with. Often that is something that has to be removed. If it is Chromium-6, then that removal has to be done in a special place. Because that stuff is highly toxic, of course. All in all, this quickly means that it is cheaper to work with new steel. And then you have to choose to go for circular steel as a matter of principle.'

So it makes sense that there are few candidates left. 'The only parties opting for it now are those crazy people like us. Those who just enjoy working on this kind of innovation. For most companies, circular construction is not financially feasible or desirable. And for us, too, it is finite. I did investigate whether we could also make the roofing with circular material, but that came at a cost that I too would pass up at this point.'

So when it comes to circular building, the biggest challenge doesn't seem to be in desirability, logistics or technology? 'No, it's really a feasibility issue. For example, the steel you take out of existing buildings dates back to 1980, 1990. In the meantime, the standards have changed. Now if you tear down an entire building somewhere and rebuild it somewhere else. Is it then a new or a used building? And what about those standards? If you start reinforcing and weighting the structure to meet the new standards, not only does that cost a lot of money, but the circular concept is also somewhat lost.'

The supply of used steel is also now so small that it is almost impossible to meet a demand. 'A municipality asked for circular steel for a bridge. Where on earth am I supposed to get it? If I can find it at all, I have beams with all kinds of lips and holes on them. What do you do with that? Not to mention making a structure fit. Using circular steel soon means that the design of a structure must be based on the available steel, rather than the other way around. And few clients are willing to do that.'

'If you want to get this going in a good way, you have to start thinking and acting very big. For example, you have to get several municipalities together and make plans for a depot where circular steel can be stored. Municipalities know better than anyone where demolition activities are coming. Then you have to deliberately demolish together and collect the materials. Then you create the required volume. In that depot, specialists must be used to test and treat the material. In addition, standards and certification must then be worked on at a higher level. It is all possible, but it requires a large-scale and joint approach.'

True circular construction with steel thus raises many questions. For example, about the possibilities surrounding the recertification of used steel. Are the questions coming late? 'No, I get it. It is a consequence of getting started with it. Then you run into these kinds of issues. In practice, we can already do a lot when it comes to reusing steel. We still have to set up the agreements and processes, together with the entire industry and the government. Until then, it will continue to take a lot of adaptability and money.'

Could it be that one day we will have to draw the conclusion that circular construction with steel remains too expensive compared to 'new' steel from scrap? 'Well. If we really start applying this en masse with the whole market, you would end up supplying less scrap to blast furnaces. Then the price of steel would rise because more new raw materials would have to be used. The ratio would have to change very sharply.'

Still, it is well worth the effort and effort, according to Klaas. 'It costs an incredible amount of energy to ship all of our scrap, have it remelted in Chinese blast furnaces and transported back again. Moreover, it is an enormously polluting process. The Netherlands has some of the cleanest blast furnaces in the world, but we know how people will react if we attempt to remelt scrap en masse in our own country.'

Meanwhile, Klaas is eager to be a good steward. 'I can't solve this issue on my own, of course. But I do want to take steps into it, try it out. And I also just think it's a very cool project, our new hall, with a cool story. An honest story. So I stay actively involved in this and I try to enthuse my customers, suppliers, partners and government. Because if nobody does anything, nothing will happen anyway.'

A huge challenge awaits the entire industry when it comes to circular steel construction. But who doesn't love that? Would you like to exchange views on opportunities? Or share your experiences with the subject? Then contact Klaas Roos of Van Den Brink Metaalbewerking or Niels Oudenaarden of Liemar Software. We are curious to hear your vision.