Steelmaking in electric arc furnaces (EAF) is already a good example of a waste-free circular economy since more than half of global steel output is being recycled, even if higher-quality materials are still produced from virgin materials and fossil-fueled processes, the president of the European Steel Technology Platform (ESTEP) said at a workshop in Bergamo, northern Italy last week.
Carl de Mar?(C) was speaking at an ESTEP workshop called "Green Steel by EAF Route: a sustainable value chain in the EU circular economy scenario" on November 13-14. EAF steelmaking represents 25-30% of global steel production, but this is expected to grow to 50% in 2050 and to 70% by the end of this century - representing "a new area in the steelmaking industry," de Mar?(C) added. In the European Union, 41% of all steel produced in 2017 was EAF-based steel, with Italy, Germany, Spain, France and Poland representing about 75% of all EAF-made steel across the bloc. EAF-based steel production in the EU is expected to increase - projections suggest global scrap generation will grow to 1.8 billion tonnes in 2070 from 600 million tonnes today, de Mar?(C) told attendees. Improving scrap recycling rates is a key issue in the "green steel" debate. "End-of-life products could become the major...