ArcelorMittal acknowledged for circular economy measures
ArcelorMittal acknowledged for circular economy measures
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The Circulars awards program, an initiative of the World Economic Forum and the Forum of Young Global Leaders, has commended Luxembourg-based steelmaker ArcelorMittal for what the awards committee calls leadership and innovation in applying circular economy principles.
Among the practices noted by the awards committee was ArcelorMittal paving more than 650 kilometers (400 miles) of roadways in 20 Brazilian municipalities with more than 1.5 million metric tons of Revsol and Revsol Plus. The products, made from steelmaking slag byproduct, can replace newly mined materials such as gravel.
Other initiatives cited by The Circulars awards committee include:
- Partnering with other firms on carbon capture technology, resulting in Steelanol, a biofuel made from waste carbon monoxide with the help of microbes. The ethanol product can be used for transportation and to make plastics. The company anticipates Steelanol could create 2,000 direct and indirect jobs and generate an income of €300 million ($353 million) per year by 2025, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions by up to 5 million metric tons per year by 2025.
- Manufacturing what ArcelorMittal calls a low-carbon cement branded as ECOCEM from its slag and selling it directly to customers. In France the practice has reduced the cement industry’s CO2 emissions by nearly 2 million metric tons, according to ArcelorMittal. From 2018 onward, it is projected to reduce emissions by a further 1 million metric tons per year. Selling the byproduct generates more than €100 million ($117 million) in revenue each year.
- Allocating additional resources to detailed life cycle assessment of its products and developing a new sustainability assessment tool.
- Designing processes and products to maximize efficiency and minimize waste in its own production process and that of its customers.
- Stretching product life cycles by leasing sheet piles for short-term projects, rather than selling them – and then leasing them again. The company’s comparative studies show reusing sheet piles have 86 percent less global warming potential than permanent steel sheet piles and 90 percent less global warming potential than a concrete retaining wall.
- Similarly, through a circular building, exhibited at the London Design Festival 2016, the company indicates it demonstrated the concept of steel reuse for entire steel structures, when they are designed, dismantled and reused with the circular economy in mind.
- Using torrefied (dried and roasted) scrap wood and using it to replace coal in its blast furnaces, thus harnessing and using energy that may otherwise have been lost. In doing so, the company expects to recycle 2 to 4 million metric tons of scrap wood each year by 2025, saving it approximately €100 million ($117 million) per year.
The Circulars 2018 will be presented at the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting Jan. 23-26 in Davos, Switzerland. The awards recognize individuals and organizations deemed to be making notable contributions to the circular economy.
“Being highly commended by the Circulars 2018 is a fantastic achievement and highlights how far we have come as a steel company to change not only the way we do things, but also the way we are perceived as a corporate citizen,” says Alan Knight, ArcelorMittal general manager and head of corporate responsibility and sustainable development. “We have long talked about the value steel brings to people’s lives and its unparalleled recyclability, but now we are finding ways to take those ideas further and become a zero waste company by integrating circular economy principles into everything we do.”
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Source: Recycling Today
ArcelorMittal acknowledged for circular economy measures
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