Sustainability
What is driving the need for more sustainable practices?
Structural steel tubular (pipe) users, like the construction industry amongst others, are under growing pressure to be more resource efficient, to lower embodied carbon, and strive for a Circular Economy. Alternative materials and material reuse strategies are critical to meet these new targets. Understanding and documenting the results for environmental impact reduction of surplus steel tubulars, like those supplied by John Lawrie Tubulars, is an opportunity to support the move to lower carbon footprint projects and a Circular Economy.
We’ve been repurposing surplus steel tubulars for the last 30 years. Reusing this material for structural applications like piling creates a circular economy whereby existing products are kept in use for longer, helping to protect the earth’s natural resources. Pipe purchased from these sources exceeds UK piling specifications providing a robust solution for your project.
What is John Lawrie Tubulars doing about Sustainability?
John Lawrie Tubulars repurposes surplus steel pipe from around the globe. This saves CO2 emissions that would be generated by the returning of the surplus pipe to steel mills for re-melting, a process that includes transportation, handling, and cutting to re-enter the melt stream.
Our Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) in 2020, showed that for every ton of John Lawrie Tubulars repurposed steel pipe, there was a CO2 saving of over 97.21% when compared to the production of new prime steel. This goes a long way to supporting net zero and sustainability goals for both our clients and our suppliers.
That was then, this is now: We have invested in our business, improved our processes and commissioned a new LCA (2025) and are pleased to let you know that our CO2 saving has increased! Using our pipe in your next project will now save you an impressive 98.51% CO2.
John Lawrie Tubulars Life Cycle Analysis (LCA)
Rather than rely on data simply pulled from the Internet, John Lawrie Tubulars has undertaken not one but 2 UK-specific Life Cycle Assessments on its steel tubulars management and operating processes, the first was completed in 2020 and the second in 2025. The LCA was performed by Giraffe Innovation Ltd., an award-winning environmental and technical consultancy in the UK.
The CO2 emissions calculated in the UK LCA includes full life cycle use of the steel tubulars including any incoming transportation, handling and manufacturing, outgoing transportation, and installation of the tubulars (for top driven piles). The John Lawrie Tubulars CO2 emissions were then compared to steel industry emissions for new mill pipe using the same “ship to” locations as the John Lawrie Tubulars analysis.
What does this mean?
What is the CO2 savings by using repurposed pipe from John Lawrie Tubulars instead of buying and using brand new pipe from the mill and its distributors? Here is what the LCA tells us:
- John Lawrie Tubulars save 1,975.92kgCO2e per tonne of steel product, which is 98.51% of the carbon emissions of a prime steel equivalent (cradle to gate).
JLT can provide a customised CO2 Savings Certificate to preferred suppliers and valued customers on a job basis, monthly basis or annually.
Surplus Steel Tubulars.
100% of the Quality < 2% of the CO2 impact of new steel.
- The results of our 2025 Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of the repurposing of surplus steel piping, by John Lawrie Tubulars shows that 1 ton of repurposed tubular steel pipe has a carbon footprint of 29.84kg CO2e per tonne (cradle to gate).
- By comparison, the new mill seamless pipe procured through distributors has a carbon footprint of 2,005.75kg CO2e per tonne (cradle to gate).
- This means that the John Lawrie Tubulars products save 1,975.92kg CO2e per tonne, which is 98.51% of the carbon emissions. In other words, the material carbon footprint of repurposed tubular products has less than 2% of the impact of those made from prime steel.
Our Roadmap to a Circular Economy
What is a circular economy?
We know we can’t continue to live like this, however. We can’t keep throwing waste into landfill, we must look for opportunities to either keep the material and products in use for longer, or create these products from materials that have prolonged shelf lives. A circular economy is a continuous cycle of processes that sees material “stay in use for as long as possible, extract the maximum value from them whilst in use, then recover and regenerate products and materials at the end of each service life.”*
Why do we want a circular economy?
A circular economy will reduce waste, improve productivity, reduce environmental impacts and increase opportunities for growth and diversification, as well as focus on society-wide benefits. The aim of a circular economy is to design out waste and pollution and regenerate natural systems.
What is a circular economy?
We know we can’t continue to live like this, however. We can’t keep throwing waste into landfill, we must look for opportunities to either keep the material and products in use for longer, or create these products from materials that have prolonged shelf lives. A circular economy is a continuous cycle of processes that sees material “stay in use for as long as possible, extract the maximum value from them whilst in use, then recover and regenerate products and materials at the end of each service life.”*
Why do we want a circular economy?
A circular economy will reduce waste, improve productivity, reduce environmental impacts and increase opportunities for growth and diversification, as well as focus on society-wide benefits. The aim of a circular economy is to design out waste and pollution and regenerate natural systems.
