TSR Recycling says it has
inaugurated its TSR40 processing plant in Duisburg, Germany, hosting officials
about one year after it held a groundbreaking ceremony for the location. Guests
included Mona Neubaur economics and energy minister for the German state of
North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW).
The
metals recycling company says at the plant up to 450,000 tons of differing
input materials, including end-of-life vehicles (ELVs). mixed scrap and large
household appliances, can be processed into what the firm calls its TSR40
recycling product.
“Using
newly developed measurement, detection and separation techniques, interfering
elements can be reliably identified and removed from the raw material during
production and accompanying elements such as copper, nickel and chromium can be
precisely determined,” states TSR Recycling.
The
company says the basis for the new plant is “an innovative manufacturing
process developed by TSR Recycling for the high-quality and certified recycling
product TSR40, which when reused in steel production reduces CO2 emissions
and [the] use of primary raw materials and energy.”
TSR
Recycling says the plant’s design is tied to a publicly funded research project
called REDERS, which is based on achieving reduced CO2 emissions
by increasing the recycling rate of steel produced. “The process is being
continuously further developed together with project partners
VDEh-Betriebsforschungsinstitut GmbH, Hüttenwerke Krupp Mannesmann GmbH and
Thyssenkrupp Steel,” says TSR Recycling.
The
company also says TSR40 provides a scrap feedstock in which the proportion of
recycled material in steel production can be significantly increased without
any loss of quality. “The new processing plant at the Duisburg site is not only
an important milestone for the entire industry, but also a lighthouse project
for the transformation of the steel industry and the processing branches of
industry—such as the automotive industry—to more sustainable quality products,”
states TSR Recycling.
“Decarbonizing
steel production is an immense task,” says Dr. Arnd Köfler, chief technology
officer at Germany-based Thyssenkrupp Steel. “Thanks to the high-quality
processing of the steel scrap, TSR40 now opens up the possibility of using a
first-class, certified product in the blast furnace for the first time. This
complements our efforts to reduce CO2 emissions, and our customers also benefit from this.”
One
of those customers, Germany-based automaker Mercedes-Benz AG, also had an
executive in attendance at the TSR40 plant inauguration. “The materials used in
Mercedes-Benz vehicles have to meet high standards,” says Jens Rubi, head of
circular economy at the automaker. “The company is researching new,
resource-saving materials in order to reconcile sustainability and luxury. Here
we see a major lever in the circular economy. Every action counts.”
Remarked
TSR Managing Director Bernd Fleschenberg, “Especially in times of interrupted
supply chains, high-quality recycling is an essential building block for reducing
dependency on primary raw materials. In addition to the positive effects
on environmental and climate protection, this is our contribution to a
sustainable circularity strategy and to achieving the goals of the European Green Deal.”