KOCHI: Union minister for steel Jyotiraditya Scindia said his ministry will push primary steel producers to use 50% of their input from scrapped or recycled steel by 2047, aiming to achieve the goal of a circular economy.
Scindia was addressing the plenary session on the final day of the three-day International Indian Material Recycling Conference, organised by the Material Recycling Association of India (MRAI), in Kochi on Saturday.
“India’s journey to the Amritkal will be visionary. I am fully committed to the circular economy and recycling sector of India and increasing the per capita consumption of steel. 22% of our steel is produced through recycling, but we need to include the informal sector for the sector’s development. For our commitment to Net Zero by 2070, we can look at short-term goals by using energy efficiency tools by 20% by 2030,” he said.
“It is our commitment that by 2030 we should reduce CO2 emissions by 50% from the current 2.85 to 1.4 CO2/ton of crude steel produced, and to be able to do that, scrap is an extremely important source. The scrap percentage for steel production should go up to 50%, and only 50% to be dependent on iron ore,” he said.
MRAI president Sanjay Mehta said that being the world’s second-largest steel producer, India needs to become a responsible steel producer. “Therefore, we anticipate incremental usage of scrap in the coming years,” he said.
The conference witnessed multiple panel discussions like plastic recycling EPR policy and BIS standards, policy framework and technological advancement in tyre recycling etc. Around 1,800 delegates, including 450 foreign delegates from 38 countries, attended the meet of global recyclers.
Source: The Times of India
