Recycling logistics for green steel: Where does the scrap for the EAF come from?

In addition to the construction work for the plants and their peripherals, the power and media supply, the complete digitalization of the process, and many other topics, the supply of raw materials for green steel production is an essential part of the transformation. With the ramp-up of electric arc furnaces at the Linz and Donawitz sites, around 2.2 million tons of high-quality scrap will be needed from 2027 onwards – double the current amount.

The production of green steel requires different types of scrap, which vary in origin and composition.

a) Pre-consumer scrap (new scrap):

• Produced directly during production, e.g., as scrap in the automotive industry.
• The composition is known and sorted by type.
• Example: Pressing scrap from automotive customers such as Audi or BMW.

b) Post-consumer scrap (old scrap):

• Comes from end-of-life products such as cars, household appliances, or construction waste.
• Must be collected, sorted, and analyzed at great expense.
• Often sourced through traditional scrap dealers and recycling partners.

Old scrap covers the entire range of end-of-life steel products – from refrigerators and water boilers to radiators. Scrap metal dealers also take end-of-life railway wheels, old vehicle bodies, and carrier scrap. Much of this scrap is shredded and, in the best case scenario, analyzed directly on the conveyor belt. These processes have been developed in recent years and now enable high-quality shredder scrap with a high degree of purity and accurate analysis. Recycling scrap is more expensive due to technology-assisted separation and shredding, but it plays an enormously important role in protecting the climate and ensuring process reliability.

This refers to the additives copper, chromium, nickel, molybdenum, or tin, which can influence the mechanical and technological properties (e.g., yield strength, tensile strength, toughness, etc.).

The contents of press shop scrap (pre-consumer scrap, new scrap), which is produced, for example, by cutting out window areas in the production facilities of our automotive customers in Germany, are well known. We return this scrap to our processes in closed cycles. We deliver our coils for their car body production directly to the plants by rail and take the valuable steel scrap back with us on the return journey. This system, known as the Bavaria Shuttle, ensures a seamless material cycle.

But it is not only the automotive industry that is part of our cycle. We strive to implement such closed-loop concepts with many of our customers, and we also integrate traditional ironmongers into our comprehensive scrap logistics system. Central hubs such as the Ennsdorf scrap hub store, sort, and prepare up to one million tons of scrap metal for onward transport every year. This hub is connected by three modes of transport—truck, rail, and ship—enabling flexible and sustainable logistics.

Special lightweight “Scrap on track” wagons are used to transport large quantities of scrap, offering a train load advantage of approximately 30% and featuring a structure and platform made from greentec steel Edition steel. From 2027, two to three freight trains with 18 wagons each will run daily from the scrap hub to Linz and Donawitz. The sorting of scrap is increasingly supported by digital systems and machine learning, which record and categorize scrap according to quality, weight, and other parameters.

Best possible performance at the Ennsdorf scrap hub:

• Delivery capacity: just under 700,000 tons to 1 million tons of scrap metal
• Trimodal connection (truck, rail, ship)
• – IT connection and data processing (photographed and categorized using machine learning technology; data on wagon number, quality, weight, radioactivity measurement)

The following are also necessary for the smooth and effective transport of scrap by rail to the Linz plant: a high-performance rail line, additional unloading tracks, 34,000 m² of new service roads, and an 800 m long, automated conveyor line, which will also supply the electric arc furnace with raw materials from 2027.

In the future, 2.2 million tons of scrap per year or six external scrap trains per day with a total length of more than 1,500 m can be handled over a length of 300 meters. We are also working on the electrical supply, the relocation and new installation of signal and media lines, and adjustments to the camera and lighting systems.

Our scrap purchasing strategy is based on reliable pillars:

• Partnership and participation with Scholz Austria (Europe-wide scrap dealer)
• Partnership with Eisen Neumüller in Upper Austria (part of the Alfa Group in Germany)
• Collection of customer scrap (e.g., Audi, Mercedes, BMW, Magna, etc.); a collection system for rail customers is also being set up.
• Collection of group scrap from our pressing plants – primarily from Germany in order to keep logistics costs in proportion to quality.

To ensure reliable disposal for our partners and a seamless supply for us, we are continuously setting up new scrap hubs together with our recycling partners – for example, in Budweis, Regensburg, Vienna, and Knittelfeld. This keeps the supply stable even in the face of logistical challenges and reduces the ecological footprint of steel production – thanks to closed cycles, efficient transport routes, and digital sorting.