Posted on 5-2-2002

 Savings Steel
Source: GreenBiz.com

PITTSBURGH, Pa., Jan. 30, 2002 – The steel industry has unveiled a
conceptual design for steel-intensive compact and mid-size cars that it
says would make cars more efficient to produce and drive.

According to the Steel Recycling Institute, vehicles employing such the
conceptual design would achieve five-star crash safety ratings from the
National Highway Transportation Safety Administration and deliver between
52 and 73 mpg. The vehicles would cost no more to build than comparable
automobiles already on the road, the group said.

The ULSAB Advanced Vehicle Concepts (ULSAB-AVC) study aims to provide auto
manufacturers with a steel-intensive vehicle to meet many of the objectives
from the Partnership for a New Generation Vehicle (PNGV). The study
emphasizes steel’s ability to maintain its long-term position as the
material of choice for safe, affordable, fuel-efficient vehicles that meet
growing societal demands for environmentally responsible vehicles.

According to Bill Heenan, president of the Steel Recycling Institute,
because steel is “the engine that moves end-of-life vehicles out of the
waste stream” and into the recycling infrastructure, it is the
environmental material of choice when building future vehicles. “By
utilizing new technologies and new steels, the steel industry is helping to
reduce the weight of future vehicles without compromising safety. The
source reduction will have additional environmental benefits relative to
vehicle emissions,” Heenan said.

The Steel Recycling Institute, a unit of the American Iron and Steel
Institute, educates the solid waste management industry, government,
business, and consumers about the economic and environmental benefits of
recycling steel.