SUMMARY

China is by far the largest manufacturer of crude steel, producing over half of worldwide demand. Due to this, improvements to the Chinese steel industry can have far-ranging international benefits by decreasing its environmental impact. The focus of this thesis is on developing innovative systems-based solutions at different scales to help alleviate this burden. This is first accomplished by developing system-based technology solutions at the plant scale to increase water, energy and material efficiencies. Next, at a higher level, the focus transitions to transforming Chinese steel manufacturing plants into eco-industrial parks by means of industrial symbiosis with other companies and assessing the associated ecological metrics. This multi-scale approach in the pursuit of sustainable steel manufacturing is unique in that it has not been attempted before and is not well understood.