Data and facts on LD slag

The conservation of resources is more than simply a catchphrase for the voestalpine Group; it has long been an important part of the production process as a whole. An example of this is the use of slag, a byproduct of the LD steel making process, which is converted into construction materials for road building and civil engineering. Subject to strict regulations and controls, it has been used extremely successfully for decades, not only in Austria but also in many other countries.

However, under the guise of environmental protection, an unprecedented and presumably politically motivated campaign has been run in Austria against the use of LD slag for more than a year now. The campaign is neither objective nor serious. This has also resulted in immediate and partly exaggerated political and administrative reactions and - as this has alarmed our customers - has effectively resulted in a complete stop in the use of LD slag in road construction.

Political consensus reached in the spring of 2013 on the need to establish a clear legal framework has, for reasons unclear to ourselves, been consistently and repeatedly delayed, and finally postponed until the next legislative period. This situation is unacceptable for the voestalpine Group, both for environmental and economic reasons. Therefore, in order to return to an objective and factual argument, we have, in the meantime, taken comprehensive measures to once again corroborate existing findings on the harmless nature of LD slag, by commissioning further environmental studies from independent experts and institutions, such as Greenpeace and the Fraunhofer Institute.

With our white paper on "LD Slag Data and Facts" (German only), which gives a summarized presentation of both these results and further information on the subject of LD slag, we wish to simply counteract strident and unfounded polemic with facts and arguments, thereby helping to return discussions and political decision-making to an objective basis.

We owe this to our customers, employees and shareholders, as well as to the reputation of the voestalpine Group and its philosophy of quality.

With this unquestionably factual, objective decision-making basis, we will be able to urge the new government to quickly draw up a reliable legal framework.

For more information and downloads visit the German version of this page.