Sustainable galvanizing from Galvanizers Association of Australia

History and the past: most would acknowledge their importance. The importance of the past is that what has been done previously can be seen and its success easily measured. It may seem obvious to look to the past before doing things now or planning for the future and the built environment is no different.

However, often lessons are not learnt from the past and we can fall into the trap of using a material unproven in real life just because it is "new." Just as in our everyday lives, we look to the newest thing, the latest thing, the "in" thing. This is not necessarily a negative prospect as it encourages innovation, but just because something is old, doesn't mean it cannot be used in innovative and exciting ways and still provide the security that can only be achieved by long-term proven past performance.

Galvanized steel is an "old" material being used in ever-increasingly modern and innovative ways. Engineers, architects and specifiers are realizing that the proven performance, durability and sustainability of galvanized steel give them greater flexibility in their designs because they have the security of proven performance.

Galvanizing has been in existence for around 170 years and it has been used in Australia for almost as long. There are galvanized telegraph poles in far north Queensland that are around 130 years old and they are still in such good condition that some cheeky locals often take them down and use them for other structural applications - the ultimate in recycling.

"Recycling" and "sustainability" may be new buzz words for many materials and in many industries, but in galvanizing it is par for the course. Both steel and zinc (the components of galvanized steel) are 100% recyclable. It is not a well-known fact, but zinc is one of the few materials that can be recycled indefinitely without any loss of superior performance qualities.

Approximately 30% of the zinc produced globally comes from recycling. The only reason this figure isn't higher is because the durability of galvanized steel and other zinc products means they remain in service for much longer than other materials and therefore have not been returned yet. Eventually, for example, some of those 80 year old electricity transmission towers scattered around Australia may come back to industry for recycling, but in the meantime, it's comforting to know that something paid for by the community so long ago is still performing as intended with a minimum of maintenance and cost. Probably the best figure to be reminded of is that over 80% of the zinc available for recycling is recycled. The industry can only recycle what is sent back and it's doubtful that hundreds of asset owners are going to give back their galvanized steel when it's still performing so well, regardless of how old it is!

This edition of galvanize looks at the acknowledgement of the past in the midst of renewal. The Midland Redevelopment Authority in Western Australia is working on an ambitious and successful plan to regenerate and reinvigorate a community while also respecting the history of the area.