Abstract The accumulation of impurities in the recycling of steel impacts the quality of secondary steel. Understanding impurity levels is crucial in the context of the proliferation of circular economy policies, expected high recycling rates, and growth of scrap consumption. By assuming the accumulation of impurities to be equal worldwide, the understanding of the extent and variation of the mixing and accumulation was limited in previous studies, and the factors influencing those variations were not considered. This is a first cross‐national comparison of impurity accumulation in recycled steel. In this study, the copper, tin, nickel, chromium, and molybdenum content was analyzed in over 500 samples of electric arc furnace rebars from China, Japan, Vietnam, Ukraine, and the Netherlands (representing northwestern Europe) with an optical emission spectrometer. The impurity content in rebars represents the content of impurities accumulated in steel scrap in the countries studied. The measured content of impurities was then used to determine the factors influencing the accumulation of those impurities. It was revealed that the recycling technology, the presence of a market for recovered metals, the quality of the material input, steelmaking practices, and the management of byproducts derived from a legislative or economic context played a role in the impurities content. By communicating on scrap chemical content, the collaboration between the recycling and steel industries could be enhanced in terms of matching the demand and supply and facilitating an increase in the scrap share in steelmaking.

Daryna Panasiuk

Ichiro Daigo

Takeo Hoshino

Hideo Hayashi

Eiji Yamasue

Duc Huy Tran

Benjamin Sprecher

Feng Shi

Volodymyr Shatokha

Journal of Industrial Ecology

《工业生态学杂志》涉及一系列相关主题：材料和能量流研究（“工业新陈代谢”）技术变革去物质化和脱碳生命周期规划、设计和评估环境扩展生产者责任设计（“产品管理”）生态工业园区（“工业共生”）以产品为导向的环境政策生态效率工业生态学杂志对跨学科方法的投稿开放并鼓励投稿。除了更正式的学术论文外，该杂志还寻求通过学者、环境管理者、政策制定者、倡导者和其他参与环境科学、管理和政策的人的贡献，提供一个持续交流信息和意见的论坛。

The Journal of Industrial Ecology covers a range of related topics, including the study of material and energy flows (known as 'industrial metabolism'), technological change, dematerialization and decarbonization, life cycle planning, design and assessment, extended producer responsibility design (referred to as 'product management'), eco-industrial parks (known as 'industrial symbiosis'), product-oriented environmental policies, and eco-efficiency. The journal is open to and encourages submissions that employ interdisciplinary approaches. In addition to formal academic papers, the Journal of Industrial Ecology seeks contributions from scholars, environmental managers, policymakers, advocates, and others involved in environmental science, management, and policy, providing a forum for ongoing exchange of information and opinions.

《工业生态学杂志》涵盖了一系列相关主题，包括材料和能量流的研究（即“工业新陈代谢”）、技术变革、去物质化与脱碳、生命周期规划、设计与评估、环境扩展生产者责任设计（即“产品管理”）、生态工业园区（即“工业共生”）、以产品为导向的环境政策、生态效率等。该杂志欢迎并鼓励跨学科方法的投稿。除了正式的学术论文外，《工业生态学杂志》还希望通过学者、环境管理者、政策制定者、倡导者及其他参与环境科学、管理和政策的人士的贡献，提供一个持续交流信息和意见的论坛。

Category	Quartile
环境科学与生态学	3
环境科学与生态学, 工程环境	3
环境科学与生态学, 环境科学	3
环境科学与生态学, 绿色可持续发展技术	4

International comparison of impurities mixing and accumulation in steel scrap

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Journal Info

Category	Quartile
GREEN & SUSTAINABLE SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY	2