Volvo Cars and Salzgitter AG have launched a closed-loop partnership. The Salzgitter Group already supplies Volvo Cars’ body parts plant in Olofström in southern Sweden with flat steel and is now taking back significant quantities of scrap steel from the plant.
The manufacturer transfers this steel scrap into the production of Salzgitter Flachstahl GmbH. The project, called Scanloop, is an example of the implementation of a circular economy in order to achieve benefits for the economy and the environment. Steel and aluminum waste from the stamping process is separated and sorted into different material streams. They are then pressed into cubes to reduce the transport volume. Instead of returning to Salzgitter with an empty train, the train is loaded with steel scrap. The steel manufacturer melts this down and processes it into high-quality steel grades so that the material remains in the “closed loop”. The first train with 25 scrap wagons and a length of 545 m recently arrived at Beddingen station.
One component of this is the use of rail freight transport: this has enabled emissions to be reduced, which underlines the importance of rail infrastructure in the EU for supporting circular developments. Despite the approximately 700 km route, which the train covered in just one and a half days, this creates an efficient and low-emission material cycle. This is also made possible by interoperable locomotives with a high train load and climate-neutral electricity for propulsion.
