BDSV urges ferrous scrap research

The Federal Association of German Steel Recycling and Disposal Cos. (BDSV) took part in a discussion with an elected official in Germany in which it advocated for additional attention and funding into research to better use ferrous scrap in steelmaking.

According to BDSV, topics of the discussion included boosting scrap quality, global free trade for steel scrap, effects of the energy supply crisis on the steel recycling industry and an overall reduction of bureaucracy.

Meeting participants included BDSV association leadership, representatives of Germany-based scrap firm TSR Recycling GmbH & Co. KG and Bundestag (German parliament) member Thomas Jarzombek.

BDSV says the various topics tied into a central question: How can the steel recycling industry successfully accompany the transformation of the steel industry toward “real green steel” and how must it help shape this process through its own further development?

BDSV President Andreas Schwenter says an essential factor is a boost in scrap quality, which would involve “the further optimization of process technology in steel mills and the close cooperation of the steel recycling industry with the steel industry.”

BDSV Managing Director Thomas Junker said the necessary, high investments of the steel recycling industry, as well as for hydrogen-based steel production, must be promoted accordingly.

Jarzombek said numerous funding programs are available from the federal and state governments. Junker said these already are being used in part, but “here, too, the bureaucratic hurdles are very high and the programs are time-consuming to apply [to].”

Regarding the preservation of free world trade for steel scrap, which is poised to be restricted by the current revision of the EU Waste Shipment Regulation, Schwenter called it restricting the export of steel scrap an “existential” problem for BDSV member companies.

Because not all steel scrap in Germany and Europe currently is used by its steel mills and foundries, the recycling companies are dependent on exporting a portion. He said steel scrap is an international commodity in which the quality of the traded steel scrap also plays an important role.

Junker called steel scrap a valuable recycling raw material that is not disposed of anywhere in the world. Nor does climate protection stop at the EU’s external borders, said BDSV. The aim of the industry is to position itself worldwide as a pioneer for innovative steel recycling technology. Junker said research and the further development of innovative processing techniques also play a decisive role here.

The impact of the current energy supply crisis on the steel recycling industry also was discussed. If the upstream and downstream suppliers or customers of steel scrap reduce their processes arising from a lack of natural gas and spiking electricity prices, this has “a massive impact on BDSV member companies,” the association says.

The energy-intensive steel recycling processes at some companies are increasingly no longer cost-effective, Schwenter said. In addition, the priority for energy transport by rail and low water levels in rivers further complicate an ”already tense logistics situation,” the group says.

Finally, Junker addressed what he called a sluggish approval situation from which numerous BDSV member companies nationwide are suffering. Recycling companies, which make a contribution to reducing CO₂ emissions, need to be promoted more strongly and their facility approval procedures urgently accelerated, BDSV says.

Member companies are willing to invest, but authorities can be slow to respond, said Junker.

BDSV says Jarzombek “had an open ear for this and promised to support these demands in the Bundestag within the scope of his possibilities.”

A tour of the premises of a TSR Recycling facility in Düsseldorf also was a part of the political meeting.