At the recycling site in Duisburg’s inland port, TSR Recycling GmbH broke ground this week for the construction of a steel scrap processing plant. The processing plant is part of the REDERS project (Reduced CO2 emissions by increasing the recycling quota in steel production) funded by the state of North Rhine-Westphalia to the tune of €6.4 million, which marks a further step in reducing CO2 emissions in the steel industry by establishing a recycling center for steel scrap. In addition to TSR and thyssenkrupp Steel, the project partners in this circular economy offensive to conserve resources are Hüttenwerke Krupp Mannesmann GmbH and the VDEh operations research institute. Using innovative processes, the processing plant will produce a high-quality recycled raw material (TSR40) for use in thyssenkrupp Steel’s Duisburg blast furnaces.
Steel scrap is an indispensable raw material for the circular economy
Recycling to recover valuable constituents is an essential factor in the supply of raw materials for the basic materials industry. Steel scrap in particular, over 95% of which is recycled, is of great importance in the production of crude steel. Particularly in NRW as a business location, metal recycling for the steel industry is a lever both for conserving resources and for reducing CO2 emissions. NRW Economics Minister Prof. Dr. Andreas Pinkwart:
“The transformation to the future-proof and climate-friendly industry of tomorrow is a joint task. On the way there, we need to bring together the strengths of individual sectors and harness joint potential. The close cooperation of the North Rhine-Westphalian steel and recycling sectors in the REDERS project shows how this can be achieved at Duisburg, a location steeped in tradition. I am convinced that the project will lead the way for the entire industry.”
Demonstrable CO2 reduction through certified recycling approach
The use of this specially processed scrap product will simultaneously achieve a reduction in CO2 emissions. So in addition to the long-term transformation of production processes to climate-neutral steelmaking, a reduction in CO2 emissions can be achieved in the very short term by increasing the recycling rate. By using a recycled product in the blast furnace, a reduction in CO2 intensity from 2.1 tons to 0.75 tons is achieved and reported in the balance sheet. In the future, TSR’s processing plant will help support the bluemint® Steel product family by providing a high-quality recycled product.
