Evaluating circularity in the U.S. Steel Industry with hybrid input-output tables
Abstract
While some aspects of the steel industry already are quite circular (e.g. 95% of the steel in cars is recycled) much more could be done to achieve circular economy (CE) goals, key for decarbonizing industry and economies at large. Input-output (IO) analysis is widely used to understand potential impacts of expanded CE strategies in industry. Because we lack physical data showing how materials are used in the economy, to date circularity has largely been assessed based on flows of money rather than materials and energy. Monetary accounting alone fails to account adequately for waste flows and requires multiple assumptions and unit conversions, adding uncertainty. However, coverage of industry by IO tables in physical units to-date has been spotty due to the high cost of tracking goods in multiple, complex units of measure. We develop hybrid IO (HIO) tables fully consistent with official U.S. data sources for evaluating circularity in the iron and steel industry. The tables will be an important tool for understanding material flows, critical resources, resilience of supply chains, wastes and circularity of other industries.
Author(s)
| Name |
Affiliation |
|
Elizabeth Wachs
|
National Renewable Energy Laboratory |
|
Colin McMillan |
National Renewable Energy Laboratory |
|
Tina Kaarsberg |
United States Department of Energy |
|
Kara Podkaminer |
United States Department of Energy |
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