From ships to steel: A smarter way to recycle

What is it about?

The article that served as the source and inspiration for the information presented on this page was originally published under the title “Hammaddeye karşı sorumluluk: Gemi geri dönüşümü ve demir çelik endüstrisinde verimlilik değerlendirmesi” in “Hacettepe Üniversitesi İktisadî ve İdarî Bilimler Fakültesi Dergisi”, dated 2024, Volume 42(3), pp. 439-470. The content below offers informative and explanatory insights that include personal perspectives on the topic. You are welcome to share your questions, comments and suggestions via the contact channels and academic/social platforms listed in the menus on the right.The author(s) expect proper citation of their original work as a recognition of their scholarly contribution published in peer-reviewed scientific journals. Therefore, please refrain from citing this page and instead cite the original article. Please note that this text serves primarily as an introduction and expression of viewpoints. Thank you for your understanding. We live in a world where industries can no longer afford to work in isolation especially when the stakes are high, the resources are finite, and the clock is ticking on sustainability. One of the most fascinating industrial duos in this context is ship recycling and the iron & steel industry. At first glance, they may seem like separate worlds, one breaking ships, the other building cities, but when you dig deeper, you realize: they are two sides of the same industrial coin. This study dives headfirst into that synergy. We explore how these sectors not only interact, but actually complement each other in the global materials economy. Ship recycling feeds the steel mills. Steel mills fuel infrastructure, construction, and manufacturing. And the loop continues if, and only if, we understand how to manage it efficiently. Yet, shockingly, the academic world hasn’t paid much attention to this relationship. Despite their clear interdependence, very few studies treat ship recycling and iron-steel production as a single, data-driven ecosystem. That’s exactly the gap we’re here to fill. Using modern multi-criteria decision-making methods, MEREC for objective weighting and MARCOS for performance evaluation, we’ve crafted a new lens through which to understand industrial resource cycles. We analyze six key performance indicators over the 2018-2022 period, including metrics like steel exports, ship dismantling volume, and iron ore imports. The results are striking: China leads the efficiency race in 2018, 2019, and 2022, while India dominates in 2020 and 2021. But beyond the rankings, the deeper insight is this: countries with active shipbreaking and steelmaking industries are not just recycling, they're redefining value creation. This isn’t just about economics. It’s about resilience in the face of raw material shortages, environmental responsibility, and strategic advantage in global trade. If these industries are managed together, with cleaner technologies, smarter logistics, and stronger environmental oversight, we’re not just improving operational efficiency; we're rewriting the future of heavy industry.

Featured Image

Photo by Giuseppe Murabito on Unsplash

Photo by Giuseppe Murabito on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Why: Because the world can no longer afford to waste what can be reusedor ignore the invisible links holding vital industries together. We often think of ship recycling as a messy, marginal business, rusty vessels beached and stripped under the sun. But look again: this is where steel begins its second life. And that life matters. In a future shaped by climate commitments, resource scarcity, and sustainability pressures, ship recycling isn’t just about cleaning up old ships. It’s about feeding the iron and steel industries with crucial, recycled raw material and doing it in a way that’s ethical, safe, and smart. Yet, the current system? Far from perfect. Despite frameworks like the Hong Kong Convention and the Basel Convention, many dismantling operations still operate below international safety and environmental standards. That’s not just a humanitarian issue, it’s a strategic failure. Inconsistent regulations, weak enforcement, and unreliable data reporting (especially in major dismantling hubs like Bangladesh) disrupt both transparency and trade. We’ve seen how delayed financing and non-compliance can trigger sudden collapses in domestic steel demand and supply. This is where our study steps in not just to analyze numbers but to reveal how regulatory failures, environmental risks, and raw material dependencies intersect. As the EU’s Critical Raw Materials Act gains traction and carbon neutrality targets become legally binding, we’re entering an era where secondary steel, scrap metals, and industrial by-products are no longer “waste”, they’re strategic assets. Materials like coking coal, deemed critical and irreplaceable, highlight the urgency. If you can’t secure virgin raw materials sustainably, you have no choice but to recycle smarter. That means building responsible supply chains and at the heart of those lies the ship recycling sector. We now know that recycling is not just a loop, it’s leverage. By maximizing the value of hazardous-material-rich vessels through safe dismantling and re-integration into the steel cycle, countries gain a dual advantage: reduced carbon emissions and enhanced economic resilience. But here’s the catch: none of this will happen without coordinated policy, improved data transparency, and cross-sector collaboration. Without these, ship recycling remains the steel industry’s dirty secret, when it could become its cleanest strength. We argue that in a future of rising scrap demand and tighter emissions limits, ship recycling can become a central node in a restructured global steel supply chain. Countries with both ship dismantling and steel production capacity will have a serious competitive edge, if they act now. Because if they don’t? What is now the unsung hero of decarbonized steel could quickly turn into its most dangerous liability. This is why it’s important. Not just for the planet, but for industries, for economies, and for the societies that depend on them.

Perspectives