Steel ministry comes up with draft steel scrap policy

The government has come out with draft steel scrap policy, which is aimed at curtailing import dependency and make India self-sufficient by producing high-quality ferrous scrap. The draft steel scrap policy, on which the Ministry of Steel has sought comments from the stakeholders by July 14, aims to promote resource efficiency in the steel sector.

"The policy envisages to set up an environmentally sound management system for ferrous scrap which can encourage processing and recycling of ferrous scraps through organised and scientific metal scrapping centres across India to minimise dependency on import of scrap and make India self-sufficient in scrap availability," said the draft steel scrap policy. As per the draft dated June 28, 2019, the ministry or its appointed agency or other designated statutory bodies shall ensure that the policy is implemented in accordance with the state of the art environmental friendly technologies and in compliance with applicable acts, rules, and regulations.

The draft policy aims to promote the circular economy in the steel sector and produce high-quality ferrous scrap for quality steel production thus minimising the dependency on imports. Other objectives are to decongest the Indian cities from end-of-life vehicles (ELVs)and reuse of ferrous scrap, processing and recycling of products in an organised, safe and environmentally friendly manner and to evolve a responsive ecosystem by involving all stakeholders among others.

In 2017, the government had launched the National Steel Policy 2017 with an aim to develop a globally competitive steel industry by creating 300 million tonne per annum steel production capacity by 2030 with a contribution of 35-40 per cent from Electric Arc Furnaces (EAFs)/Induction Furnaces (IFs) Route -- used by secondary players. "Although, ferrous scrap is the main raw material for the secondary sector but the primary sector also uses scrap in the charge mix of Basic Oxygen Furnace (BOF) to the tune of 15 per cent to improve efficiency minimize the cost of production and other process needs," it said.

It said the availability of raw materials at competitive rates is imperative for the growth of the steel industry and to achieve the NSP-2107 target. Thus, the availability of quality scrap in an adequate quantity is one of the critical factors for future growth for both secondary as well as primary sector.

"Keeping this objective in view and in order to develop a globally competitive steel industry by adopting state of art environment-friendly technologies, Ministry of Steel has prepared a draft steel scrap policy envisaging a framework to facilitate and promote the establishment of ferrous/steel scrapping centres in India," it said. The draft policy said there is a worldwide trend to increase steel production using the scrap as the main raw material as recycling of scrap helps in conservation of vital natural resources besides other numerous benefits.

The use of every tonne of scrap shall save 1.1 tonnes of iron ore, 630 kg of coking coal and 55 kg of limestone, it added.