Taiwan Steel Union Co., Ltd.

A Practitioner of Circular Economy

Taiwan Steel Union Co., Ltd., in line with government environmental policies, reuses the hazardous industrial waste dust generated by electric arc furnace steelmaking, effectively solving the problem of dust disposal in the domestic electric arc furnace steelmaking industry.


Using high-temperature rotary kiln smelting technology, valuable resources such as zinc (approximately 25%) and lead in the dust are recovered to produce “Crude Zinc Oxide (approximately 58%)”, which is then sold to domestic and international smelters or chemical plants to produce pure zinc ingots (99.995% Zn) or high-purity zinc oxide (98% ZnO). These ingots are then resold to domestic galvanizing, tire, and rubber companies to be remanufactured into galvanized building materials or related consumer goods, completing another important “metallic zinc life cycle” in Taiwan’s scrap metal circular economy.


This circular model not only reduces the mining of natural zinc ore and the environmental burden but also effectively solves the problem of hazardous waste disposal in the electric arc furnace steelmaking industry, becoming a successful example of “urban mining”. Since 2021, Taiwan Steel Union has been expanding the categories of industries that can be reused, such as zinc-containing waste/resources produced by surface treatment, chemical industry, and metal processing industry, as well as incineration fly ash produced by waste incineration plants. This reduces the consumption of natural resources, allows seemingly useless waste to re-enter the industrial chain, and transforms it into reusable recycled raw materials, while avoiding waste from ending up in landfills.