Meet the columnist

Tim Collins

Secretary-General , worldstainless Tim studied metallurgy and joined British Steel Stainless upon graduation . He joined the worldstainless association in 2019 . For more information about stainless steels and their applications , please email : info @ worldstainless . org

As a young man in November 1979 , I saw the Australian rock band AC / DC on their Highway to Hell tour in a venue that essentially was a cattle market hall . That was a momentous night of pure escapism for me . If , however , we roll the clock forward 43 years to November 2022 and the COP 27 Conference , the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stated that the world was on a highway to climate hell with its foot on the accelerator . That ’ s rather like AC / DC on overdrive . The intervening time between these two events is almost the same number of years I have spent working in the stainless steel industry . During these years , I have witnessed a constant growth in global consumption of stainless steel across many usage sectors . Equally , I have witnessed on a wider societal scale many entrenched organisational behaviours that have not changed over 40 + years . Undoubtedly , we have made some amazing technological progress in our society over these 40 + years , but have we generally been doing the right things ? We have continued to be highly reliant on fossil fuels for our energy , mobility and manufacturing processes , yet the knowledge of other greener process technologies and supporting sustainable materials has been around all this time . Now , we are facing a global catastrophe , yet we still are not shifting away from the fossil fuel economy with the speed needed to both become a sustainable society and save our planet

from an unimaginable fate . We are still stuck in the short-termist mindset of lowest bids win contracts , and maintenance of a product or an installation is somebody else ’ s problem . Have we simply abandoned the notion of ‘ build to last ’ as the McDonaldisation of our society has taken a firm grip on our behavioural norms ? Have we just become greedy , driven by a need for short-term personal gain ? If we are to limit or even reverse the effects of climate change whilst we still can make an impact , then we have to shift to using sustainable materials quickly in as many aspects of our lives as possible . I strongly argue that sustainable materials are those that are produced with a low carbon footprint through the adoption of using recycled raw materials , and which can operate in service with zero or minimal maintenance for a minimum of 100 years . Stainless steels are one of the most sustainable and resilient material families at our disposal today , with 96 % of end-of-life stainless steels currently being captured for recycling . Most people know a little about stainless steel because they see and use it daily in their homes . However , do people know that by selectively using stainless steels in , for example , construction projects to replace around 10 % of other steel components , the project service life can be extended well beyond 100 years with minimal maintenance ? Furthermore , replacing single-use plastics with reusable

stainless steel containers for food and drinks should be a normal part of our life . It ’ s not just the appropriate and hygienic thing to do , it ’ s the right thing for our planet , for our sea life , for our animals and our environment . As humans , we ingest on average 18kg of microplastics during our lifetime . Is this acceptable when there are other , more appropriate and far less harmful material choices available to us ? We need to change our myopic , on-demand , fashion-laden perspective of life and think holistically , environmentally and longterm . Making this choice is not just right for our planet ; it ’ s also right for our health and the use of our hardearned money . Stainless steels can help save our planet and can , and are slowly being , used effectively and costefficiently in construction , to replace single-use plastics , in hygienic applications ( i . e .; healthcare , and food and drinks processing ), in clean water supply systems , in renewable power generation and to protect our coastlines from extreme weather events . Stainless steels , when specified correctly for each application , are the ultimate ‘ fit and forget ’ material and will also provide the lowest life-cycle costs compared to other competing and less sustainable materials . We all need to think stainless for a safe and sustainable future . Perhaps in 1979 , AC / DC were sound predictors of our future , unless of course , we choose to make an appropriate change .

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