In industrial ecology, contamination refers to the infiltration of undesirable substances that compromise a material's purity and performance. In sectors like steel, this is not merely "dirt" but molecular-level interference.
The presence of tramp elements—such as copper in steel scrap—creates metallurgical defects that cannot be removed by conventional smelting. This results in the loss of material integrity, forcing high-value resources into lower-tier applications.
To achieve a closed loop, we must engineer advanced sorting systems to prevent this systemic degradation.