Construction of large scale shredder plant in Salzgitter to boost circular economy

Salzgitter AG has now commissioned the construction of a new shredder plant for scrap metal. The construction of the facility on the integrated steelworks site in Salzgitter, directly adjacent to the SALCOS® plants currently under construction, will cost a total of around 30 million euros, and enable the processing of high-quality scrap grades. The new facility represents a further building block for the production of "green steel" as part of SALCOS® - Salzgitter Low CO2 Steelmaking.

The partners involved in the construction of the new shredder are the Düsseldorf-based machine and plant manufacturer Lindemann GmbH and the Belgian company Lybover. Both companies command many years of expertise in the fields of machine technology and shredding, in addition to processing plant and exhaust air technology, and will provide competent support to Deutsche Erz- und Metall-Union GmbH (DEUMU) during the construction of the 189 meter long and 66 meter wide facility.

Sandrina Sieverdingbeck, Managing Director DEUMU said: "In committing this investment, our aim is to strategically realign our scrap management at the Salzgitter site. We are thereby aiming to expand our scrap recycling based on high-quality steel scrap in order to enable the future production of low CO2 steel. Proceeding in this way, we are creating the conditions to ensure the Group's scrap supply in the future, both in terms of quantity and quality."

Concurrently, DEUMU is working with internal partners to develop the 4 SALCOS® scrap grade, which fulfills the meets the properties of the SALCOS® production process. The commissioning of the new unit is also timed to coincide with the start of the first stage of the SALCOS® - Salzgitter Low CO2 Steelmaking transformation program in 2026. The conversion of steel production at the Salzgitter site is to be completed by the end of 2033, well ahead of the respective legal requirements.

Gunnar Groebler, Chairman of the Executive Board of Salzgitter AG commented: "We know that - driven by the circular economy - the global demand for scrap is set to increase significantly. Demand for high-quality steel scrap will trend upwards, particularly due to the increasing electrification of steel routes for CO2-reduced steel worldwide. The processing of these scrap grades from old scrap will then be enabled primarily by modern shredding and sorting systems. Consequently, the new shredder is an investment in product quality and, above all, serves to secure our own requirements."

Source and Photo: Salzgitter