Sustainable Reuse of Steel Elements from Constructions

Extend the life of your steel construction elements and reduce environmental impact with sustainable solutions from SGS.

Do you want to extend the life of your steel construction elements while protecting the environment? Our sustainable solutions for reusing steel elements can help. At SGS, we are committed to promoting circular practices and reducing environmental impact. Our team of experts is ready to guide you along the path to a more sustainable future.

Recyclable and eco-friendly

The reuse of structures and building components is becoming an increasingly common trend. Steel is 100% recyclable and can be reused in various ways:

As an entire construction by a specialist contractor
As separate parts in standard elements
As scrap

Steel is ideal for direct reuse, and from an environmental viewpoint, it is more beneficial to reuse entire structures or elements than to remelt steel from recycling scrap. Often, there is already a lot of knowledge about the original steel construction, and usually, the properties of the steel barely change during reuse.

NTA 8713:2023 – Reuse of Structural Steelwork

SGS was involved in the development of the Dutch steel reuse protocol NTA 8713:2023 – Reuse of Structural Steelwork. This Dutch Technical Agreement contains guidelines for drawing up an inspection document with all the necessary information for the safe reuse of structural steel. The purpose of this NTA is to facilitate the reuse of structural steel and to reduce the environmental impact of steel structures. The NTA describes the procedure to determine the geometric and material properties of steel profiles that have been dismantled from a donor structure and reused in another structure.

Purpose of the NTA
- Providing a clear procedure for reuse and verifying properties in the absence of a Declaration of Performance (DoP)
- Specifically applicable to standard profiles
- Defines the responsibilities of involved parties
- Indicates which elements may and may not be reused
- Simplifies the procedure for standard elements
Preconditions of the NTA:
- The year of construction of the donor structure must be known (the production year of the steel is construction year -2) and after 1957
- The donor structure must come from the Netherlands
- Only standard steel profiles are eligible
- Welded profiles are not allowed
- Profiles may not originate from dynamically loaded steel constructions
- No plastically deformed profiles (except arched)
- No weatherproof, stainless steel or cast iron
- No fasteners (bolts, etc.)
- The structure must be divided into inspection units (<20 tons)