Bangladesh Steel Re-Rolling Mills (BSRM), the country’s leading steel producer, has successfully transformed steel slag waste into eco-friendly construction material as an alternative to bricks. Steel slag, a solid waste generated during the steelmaking process, poses environmental threats and reduces land fertility when improperly disposed of. BSRM has turned this waste into a commercial product after nearly a decade of effort.
Research conducted by the Islamic University of Technology has shown that using slag instead of bricks can reduce the CO2 footprint of concrete by 35% and lower costs by 30%. BSRM produces different sizes of slag gravel through crushing machines and utilizes them as alternatives to brick and stone chips. The company has successfully used slag gravel in road construction and building walls, as well as for road dividers and railway stones. BSRM now processes around 1.20 lakh tonnes of slag each year, 100% of which is used as construction material. This initiative has earned BSRM the “SDG Brand Champion Awards 2023.”