Steel: the recycling wonder

Steel is a multi-talent. Steel enables weight-saving and durable products that are easy to repair and ultimately 100% recyclable. Once produced, steel – whether via the traditional blast furnace route or, in future, via a CO₂ -reduced green process – reduces the CO₂ footprint with every extension of service life and every recycling process. High-strength components in particular make a valuable contribution to the CO₂ -relevant steel cycle. Reduce – Reuse – Repair – Recycle (4R) closes the steel cycle.

• “Reduce: High-strength and ultra-high-strength steels reduce the weight of components with the same or better functionality.
• “Reuse: Steel products are durable and robust and can therefore be used many times.
• “Remanufacture”/”Repair” (reconditioning/repair): Steel components can be repaired using various methods, which extends their service life.
• “Recycle”: Steel can be recycled as often as required. The material cycle is closed.

Bereits in der Produktion überzeugt Stahl mit einer vergleichsweise positiven CO₂-Emmissionsbilanz. Gegenüber anderen Werkstoffen setzt Stahl hier nämlich deutlich weniger treibhausrelevante Emissionen frei.

As a leading technology group and steel producer, we are working hard and comprehensively to further improve our CO₂ footprint. Our commitment to conserving resources and protecting the environment is being driven by the ambitious greentec steel program: from 2027, CO₂ emissions will be reduced by 30% with the commissioning of the first electric arc furnace (EAF) and the use of green electricity – by 2050, we are aiming for steel production with net zero CO₂ emissions with additional EAFs in Linz and Donawitz and new steel production technologies.

greentec steel is currently the most important climate protection program in Austria. However, we are already working continuously to reduce the CO₂ footprint in the production of high-tech steel materials that our international customers can use for their products in an environmentally conscious manner. Scrap plays an important role in this. But first things first – let’s look at production first.

A new batch of molten metal is produced every 50 minutes in the electric arc furnace (EAF). What is it made of?

• Scrap: Scrap from our own production, returned production scrap from selected manufacturers (e.g. environmentally friendly by rail from Bavaria, hence “Bayern-Shuttle”) and scrap from the independent trade – between 20 % and 80 % pre-consumer and post-consumer scrap.
• HBI (Hot Briquetted Iron): from the HBI plant in Texas/USA (shareholder voestalpine) and from global markets.
• Pig iron: from the blast furnaces of Linzer and Donawitzer Hütte. It is desulphurized before use.
• Lime and other aggregates: burnt lime comes from the voestalpine lime plant in Steyrling.