Colorbond Roofing and Sustainability
To understand whether Colorbond roofing is sustainable, you need to understand something of the steel making process. Traditionally speaking, steel making seems to have a poor reputation when it comes to sustainability, yet this is now undeserved. Steel is made from iron which occurs naturally in the earth. However, it is the process of converting it to steel that some people consider to be less than sustainable. But are they right? Consider these points.
Waste
The waste from making steel is mostly slag, a rock-like substance. Where many years ago this was just discarded, today it is all recycled and sold to construction companies that use it to make concrete. So, no waste.
Steel and water usage
Making steel takes a great deal of water to cool, de-scale and clean the steel, so this could be why many people feel that steel is not an environmentally friendly product. But these days, even though the water is polluted with various elements, most of this can be removed so that the water can be recycled and reused. In fact, 98% of the water used is able to be used again. The other 2% is lost through evaporation during cooling.
Air pollution
Steel manufacturers often come under criticism due to the amount of air pollution caused during the steel making process but even this has improved exponentially over the last few decades. Since the 1960s carbon dioxide emissions and thus, air pollution has fallen by a whopping 50%, and dust emissions have been reduced by more than that. But that is not the end; specialists in the industry are working tirelessly to improve the percentage.
One of the best materials for recycling
Steel is by far and away the best material when it comes to recycling. Many substances such as paper can be recycled into an inferior product. Not steel; when it is recycled it can be made into something else of the same quality as new steel would make. In fact, the same steel can be melted down and made into something else over and over again without any downgrading of quality. And because it is magnetic it’s easy to recover from waste streams.
Other benefits of Colorbond roofing
So if you are wondering whether your steel Colorbond roofing is environmentally friendly, the answer is yes. It can be taken off and melted down into any other steel product, should you ever be able to part with it. It is also able to provide you with a roof that is durable and strong. It has insulation properties as it deflects the sunlight and due to the smooth finish it has great resistance to any bush fire embers that blow ahead of the main flames.