There is a growing demand by building owners and tenants for environmentally sustainable buildings. The waste hierarchy of Reduce, Reuse and then Recycle is one that the structural engineer can utilise to play their part in producing a greener building. This paper will present the benefits of reducing and reuse over recycling of structural steel in the context of virgin materials consumed, waste generated and energy expended. In light of this hierarchy it will examine the reduction in material usage by designing a four-storey, steel-framed building using 350 grade steel compared with the current standard grade in Australia of 300PLUS®. This comparison illustrates the potential environmental benefits of choosing to design some elements of a building using a higher grade steel, embracing the concept of the waste hierarchy.