NATIONAL STEEL POLICY
Context: In a bid to ensure quality scrap for the steel industry, the government has come out with a Steel Scrap Recycling Policy that aims to reduce imports, conserve resources and save energy.
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE POLICY
- The policy aims to promote circular economy in the steel sector.
- And also promote a formal and scientific collection, dismantling and processing activities for end of life products that are sources of recyclable (ferrous, non- ferrous and other non-metallic) scraps
- This will lead to resource conservation and energy savings and setting up of an environmentally sound management system for handling ferrous scrap.
- The policy will help produce high quality ferrous scrap for quality steel production, minimizing the dependency on imports.
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE POLICY
- The policy envisages a framework to facilitate and promote establishment of metal scrapping centers in India.
- The Policy will ensure scientific processing and recycling of ferrous scrap generated from various sources and a variety of products.
- The policy will help decongest the Indian cities from reuse of ferrous scrap, besides creating a mechanism for treating waste streams and residues produced from dismantling and shredding facilities in compliance to Hazardous & Other Wastes (Management & Trans boundary Movement) Rules, 2016 issued by the Ministry of Environment and Forests.
- The policy is based on “6Rs principles of Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Recover, Redesign and Remanufacture
- The policy can help Create employment in the range of about 3 lakh jobs.