Scrap rails refer to railway rails that cannot be used due to wear or aging during use. These rails can usually be reused after strict inspection and necessary repair.

TREATMENT OF SCRAP RAILS

Reuse: Rails with good performance can be reinstalled on freight railways or ordinary railways after strict inspection and repair.

Reprocessing: Some scrap rails are sent to steel mills for reprocessing and used to produce other steel products, such as knives and tools.

Cultural display: In specific places, such as railway material recycling bases, scrap rails can be transformed into part of cultural displays for people to understand the history of railway construction.

Idle treatment: For a very small number of completely unusable abandoned rails, they are chosen to be idle on vacant land for further treatment.

USES OF SCRAP RAILS AFTER REPROCESSING

1. Use of metallurgical raw materials

Direct smelting and recycling

Electric furnace steelmaking: Scrap rails are used as core raw materials (accounting for 80%-100%) for short-process energy-saving steelmaking.

‌Converter steelmaking‌: As a supplementary raw material for iron ore (accounting for 10%-30%), it reduces dependence on primary ore.

‌Extracting rare metals‌: Alloy scrap rails (such as high-speed steel containing tungsten and molybdenum) can recycle rare metals.

‌Recycled steel raw materials‌

After smelting, it meets the national standard of "Recycled Steel Raw Materials" (GB/T 39733-2024). As a ferrous resource to replace iron ore, it significantly reduces carbon emissions (reducing 1.6 tons of CO₂ per ton of steel).

2. Processing of industrial products

‌Rolled construction steel‌

Re-rolled into rebar, profiles and other construction steel for infrastructure and housing construction.

‌Casting industrial parts‌

Melted into wear-resistant castings such as agricultural machinery accessories, manhole covers, and mechanical bases.

‌Production tools and knives‌

Using the characteristics of high-carbon steel, forging knives, hardware tools (such as pliers, nail pullers) and industrial molds.

‌Manufacturing metal powder‌

Processed into iron powder for use as 3D printing materials or chemical catalysts.