shatterproof, robust & lightweight: all facts about stainless steel
The new ones are here: our soulbottles steel light! This marks the second round of our soulessentials series on stainless steel - after the launch of the double-walled soulbottles steel in 2019, we would now like to discuss the properties of our new soulbottles steel light. Why is steel suitable for drinking bottles, what about recycling and why are the soulbottles steel insulated and the steel light, on the other hand, totally light? Immerse yourself with us in the world of stainless steel production.
That was a real milestone in more ways than one: In 2019 we launched our first stainless steel drinking bottles . New material, new production country, new partners, believe us - it was exciting. A year later, the steel, steel utopia and steel industrial turned out to be real bestsellers and eye-catchers in the hands of our soulfriends. Lighter, more colorful, more versatile. But we realized there was more to it and spent another year refining it... You can now marvel at the result in our shop: the soulbottles steel light . We regularly provide updates on the production of our soulbottles steel in China here on the blog. But how much do you know about steel? As part of our soulessentials series, which started with the topic of glass, here is the stainless steel material check.
The production of steel is quite resource-intensive
What exactly is in stainless steel?
Stainless steel sounds very promising per se, as “noble” suggests a certain quality feature. But first, the definition of “steel”: This refers to a material that consists largely of iron . It is made from iron ore and usually also scrap steel , but more on that later. A maximum of two percent of the mass can be carbon. This makes steel a so-called alloy, i.e. a metallic material that consists of at least two elements. It is easy to shape, both hot and cold , and can be processed into a wide variety of products , from solid plates to flexible sheet metal . Stainless steel has similar properties, but is refined even further , for example by removing unwanted residues of sulphur or by adding other elements to the alloy to improve the quality – as is the case with 18/8 stainless steel of quality 304, from which the body of our soulbottles steel is made. To this is added 18% chromium and at least 8% nickel . This variant is the most commonly used and is often found in drinking bottles or lunch boxes made of stainless steel.
steel and recycling
It all started with our glass bottles at soulbottles. Not least because this material is 100% recyclable . And every type of steel has this property too. After use, it can be completely melted down and reprocessed without losing any quality. And theoretically, even normal steel can be adjusted in terms of alloy during the recycling process, for example by adding chrome and nickel, to give it the quality of stainless steel. What we don't want to sweep under the carpet: steel has a pretty high CO₂ footprint, especially due to its manufacturing process . It is traditionally manufactured in blast furnaces, a process that requires large quantities of raw materials and is therefore energy-intensive. The CO₂ balance is correspondingly high.
But after careful consideration, the advantages convinced us. And recycling is clearly one of them. Due to its positive material properties, steel can be reused not just once, but multiple times - this is called multi-recycling . In numbers: 570 million tons are fed into the recycling cycle every year. This makes steel the world leader. Recycling, i.e. the use of steel scrap, reduces the steel industry's CO₂ footprint. A study from 2019 comes to the conclusion that, for example, the use of one ton of recycled stainless steel scrap in stainless steel production ensures that 4.3 tons less CO₂ are generated. In addition, the use of primary raw materials is also reduced. Recycling therefore ensures that the material's ecological footprint is reduced . At soulbottles, we are currently taking this path:
- We try to avoid as many emissions as possible ; everything we cannot avoid, we compensate via myclimate.
- Our steel bottles travel by ship from our producer in China. This uses less CO2 than by train, plane or truck.
- The transport also uses 100% biofuels.
- We also use recycled stainless steel to produce our soulbottles steel. We are working on increasing the proportion even further, just as we have already succeeded in doing with glass.
Why China and how does the cooperation work there? Information about this can be found here. Of course, there is still a lot of room for improvement in the steel industry to become more sustainable. In Germany in particular, concepts are being worked on to make production greener, i.e. to reduce the use of raw materials. We are also keeping up to date here.
one of the soulbottles founders Paul at our producer in China
Why is stainless steel suitable for drinking bottles?
The fact that steel is 100% recyclable and that your bottle can be completely melted down and reprocessed after a long life is an important factor. But even more important is the durability of stainless steel , so that you can use your soulbottle steel and steel light for many years before it goes back into the cycle. And because the material is unbreakable and does not rust , nothing stands in the way of a long-term and therefore sustainable relationship . Stainless steel does not automatically have to be rust-free steel, even if the two are often equated. The decisive factor here is the chromium content. The 304 stainless steel we use has a chromium content of 18 percent. Among other things, this helps to ensure that the bottles are food safe and that the material does not rust. This is why you will sometimes find the term stainless steel for 304 stainless steel.
Light, lighter, steel light
Visually, the soulbottle steel and soulbottle steel light look very similar. But when you hold your steel soulmate in your hands, you will notice one thing in particular: whether it is 1.2 l, 0.7 l or 0.5 l, the steel light is the lightest soulbottle ever! Because stainless steel is not only shatterproof and does not release any particles into the water - the composition of our stainless steel is also as light as a feather . This is due to the material properties and the construction. The soulbottle steel light is single-walled.
Stainless steel is our favorite lightweight material because, unlike aluminum , stainless steel is very durable and resistant to heat and sunlight . And what is important to us: stainless steel drinking bottles can be produced using less energy than aluminum .
Our soulbottles steel light in their 3 sizes
And what about the insulating properties of the double-walled steel?
Steel is often equated with insulated bottles, i.e. the ability to separate the contents from the ambient temperature. Our soulbottles steel keep cold things cold for a long time and warm things warm for a long time. This effect is due to steel having very good thermal conductivity . The decisive factor: the double-walled production . The space between them is a vacuum that increases the insulating ability. This means that the tea stays hot and the sparkling water stays cold. We are not currently providing more precise figures, as we would rather give no information than inaccurate information.
Here you can see our soulbottles steel - looks almost exactly like the steel light, doesn't it?
The advantages of soulbottles steel at a glance
- 100% recyclable and even multiple times
- freely formable
- insulated
- unbreakable
- in our quality, stainless steel 304, food safe and rustproof
- completely harmless to health
- and don’t forget: Our stainless steel bottles are completely plastic-free
For more information: Here you will find answers to all other questions about our bottles .
Sources:
chemie.de/lexikon/Edelstahl.html
Umweltbundesamt.de/edelstahl#notes-on-recycling
