The concern to apply environmental rules within the productive context of any company is actually a reality in the worldwide scene. Waste improvement and commercialization in many industrial deals have led organizations to a new ideology about the managing of this material, where the increase of income generated by its recycling has much contributed to the expansion of this practice. Scale is a by-product, which arises from oxidation of the steel surface when it is submitted to a thermal gradient or simply to the action of time. In the metallurgical field, it basically derives from the operations of continuous casting and rolling. Scale are iron oxides whose disposal at wastes yards must be carried out following the pertinent environmental laws, since they can be classified as dangerous wastes (Class I, NBR 10004:2004). However, there are few studies towards its improvement so as to enhance the worth of the by-product in reference. In this context, drying, sieving and briquetting unit operations were employed on the material processing. Physical and chemical characterizations enabled investigation of their properties and prospective industrial applications, aiming to adapt the environmental, economical and processing parameters to the companies' requirements.
waste; scale; improvement; briquetting; recycling
