Skip to main content
Go to the home page of the European Commission (opens in new window)
English English
CORDIS - EU research results
CORDIS

The steel industry, circularity and the stock-flow-service nexus

Project description

Demand-side strategies to boost circularity in the steel industry

Steel is one of the most recycled materials but only one third of the global demand is met through scrap. Since steel has a potentially endless life cycle, its industry can lead the way in the circular economy. The EU-funded CircNexSt project will use the stock-flow-service (SFS) nexus to measure the circularity of an international steel company’s products from extraction to service. The SFS framework explicitly highlights the interactions between energy and material flows, material stocks, and services. Dynamic material flow and stock modelling will be employed to measure the resource consumption and accumulation required to offer services. CircNexSt will result in a set of resource efficiency and circularity indicators to assess the environmental performance of material goods and products.

Objective

Steel is the world’s most recycled metal, yet only 21% of the global demand is met through scrap, which highlights the gap between the present reality and the ideals embedded in the concept of the circular economy. The latter is designed to increase material recoverability and product optimisation throughout the entire life cycle, resulting in less carbon emissions, waste and resource dependency. Within the steel industry, leading companies and professional bodies have sought to promote and embody the circular economy to advance sector sustainability.

This project will use the Stock-Flow-Service (SFS) Nexus to quantify the circularity of an international steel company’s products from extraction to service. The SFS nexus is a conceptual framework that explicitly highlights the interactions, including trade-offs, between energy and material flows (e.g. coal, iron ore), material stocks (e.g. buildings, vehicles) and service provision (e.g. shelter, mobility). By applying this nexus, one can assess the overall environmental performance of a light weighting strategy by juxtaposing reduced fuel consumption and carbon emissions with the increased incorporation of complex material composites. The latter make energy savings possible but are difficult to re-use and recycle, thus reducing the circularity of the process.

The project will use Material Flow Analysis and Dynamic Stock Modelling to quantify resource consumption and accumulation linked to the service provided by steel. A set of resource efficiency and circularity indicators will be developed to evaluate the environmental performance of steel products (and prototypes) under various business strategies, including stock optimisation, green leasing, and product-service systems. The project’s results and recommendations will support the steel company in their corporate sustainability targets and facilitate the accurate prediction and tracking of steel’s residual value and resource efficiency across their product range.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.

You need to log in or register to use this function

Keywords

Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)

Programme(s)

Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.

Topic(s)

Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.

Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)

See all projects funded under this funding scheme

Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-IF-2020

See all projects funded under this call

Coordinator

THE CHANCELLOR MASTERS AND SCHOLARS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 224 933,76
Address
TRINITY LANE THE OLD SCHOOLS
CB2 1TN CAMBRIDGE
United Kingdom

See on map

Region
East of England East Anglia Cambridgeshire CC
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
Links
Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 224 933,76
My booklet 0 0