Circular Economy and Green Steel - A Path to Sustainable Development in Emerging Economies

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6463-964-3_11How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Circular economy; Green steel; Sustainable development; Hydrogen-based reduction; Steel industry

Abstract

Sustainable production is needed since the global steel sector causes environmental degradation and carbon emissions. This study examines how Circular Economy (CE) ideas might be applied to green steel production to increase sustainability. A descriptive and exploratory study design used qualitative and quantitative approaches. Primary data from semi-structured interviews and surveys with industry experts, policymakers, and sustainability managers was supplemented by academic literature, industry reports, and case studies. CE practises including recycling, waste reduction, resource optimisation, and industrial symbiosis are examined alongside green steel technologies like Electric Arc Furnaces (EAF) and hydrogen-based reduction processes. Recycling and waste reduction are modestly adopted, but advanced CE techniques and green technology need further support. CE adoption, green steel technologies, and sustainability results, especially environmental performance, followed by economic and social advantages, were positively correlated. Primary facilitators were the organisational preparedness and the involvement of the stakeholders, whereas the financial, technical, and regulatory gaps are the challenges. On the basis of these observations, an all-encompassing framework was offered to combine the principles of CE with the production of green steel, which has been validated by the reviews of experts and the comments of stakeholders. The research also has significant implications on policymakers, industry practitioners and the researchers aiming at enhancing the sustainability of steel. The digital integration, lifespan assessment, and regional comparative studies are the means to optimise the circular strategies and sustainable industrial transformation in future study.

Copyright

© 2025 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Akhil Das
AU  - Sneha Maji
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/12/31
TI  - Circular Economy and Green Steel - A Path to Sustainable Development in Emerging Economies
BT  - Proceedings of the Conference Series on Sustainable Architecture Circular Economy (SACE 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 213
EP  - 244
SN  - 3005-155X
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6463-964-3_11
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6463-964-3_11
ID  - Das2025
ER  -