Regular Article

Steel and biodiversity: a promising alliance^★

¹ Secretary General, European Steel Technology Platform (ESTEP), Brussels, Belgium
² Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Pisa, Italy
³ Arcelor Mittal Espaňa, Avilés, Spain
⁴ ILVA S.p.A, Taranto, Italy
⁵ Jernkontoret, Stockholm, Sweden
⁶ Tata Steel UK, Rotherham, United Kingdom
⁷ TENOVA S.p.A., Castellanza, Italy

^* e-mail: v.colla@santannapisa.it

Received: 28 June 2017
Accepted: 22 November 2017

Abstract

The term “Biodiversity” derives from a contraction of “biological diversity” and commonly refers to a measure of the variety of organisms, which are present in different ecosystems, by considering genetic variation, ecosystem variation, or species variation within an area, biome, or planet. Biodiversity is receiving an ever-increasing attention at many levels of European society as well as from many industrial sectors, and a variety of actions are being put in place in order to protect, preserve and increase it. The present paper provides examples of the capabilities and potentials of the steel sector with respect to biodiversity. In effect, steel is a valuable and fundamental structural material in order to develop measures and systems for protection of biodiversity. On the other hand, biodiversity can represent for the steel industry not only a heritage to preserve, but, through its functional traits, it can become an opportunity, offering an ecosystem’s perspective to all industrial companies. In the paper, steel relevant topics and applications are analyzed leading to the conclusion that biodiversity should be exploited and can play a role with potentially relevant benefits both for the company and for local communities.