• The new European project ECO-STEEL will develop solid-state recycling and twin-roll strip casting technologies to transform stainless steel scrap into high-value products.
• These lower-temperature processes could achieve up to 86% energy savings and 84% CO₂ reductions compared to conventional Electric Arc Furnace-based methods.

The steel industry is responsible for a significant share of global greenhouse gas emissions, making the decarbonisation of steel production one of the most pressing challenges facing heavy industry today.

The newly launched ECO-STEEL (Eco-Friendly Stainless Steel Production from Recycled Scrap) project seeks to address this challenge by developing new, lower-temperature recycling technologies to transform ferritic stainless steel scrap into high-quality products.

Such methods could lead to reductions in energy consumption CO₂ emissions of approximately 85% compared with conventional electric arc furnace-based recycling routes.

To achieve these ambitious goals, ECO-STEEL will pioneer two innovative processing routes: solid-state consolidation without melting and twin-roll strip casting.

Together, these approaches have the potential to fundamentally change how stainless steel is recycled, moving away from conventional processing temperatures exceeding 1.600°C towards lower-temperature manufacturing routes operating between 700°C and 1.100°C.

To read more, see the ECO-STEEL website.