Steel

Steel is vital to modern society, with diverse alloys serving critical applications. Buildings, infrastructure, machinery, and vehicles constitute 75% of global steel usage, with global demand projected to increase. However, the industry generates 7-9% of global CO2 emissions, making it a challenging but essential sector for decarbonization efforts.

The BIR and EuRIC acknowledge the European Commission’s publication of the European Steel and Metals Action Plan yesterday. As global and European representatives of the recycling industry, we appreciate the Commission’s efforts to support the competitiveness and sustainability of Europe’s metals sector.

The European Commission’s Steel and Metals Action Plan is a gamble with Europe’s recycling future. Instead of first securing demand for recycled metals, it prioritises keeping “scrap” in Europe, for Europe, by restricting exports, ignoring the fundamental problem: part of Europe’s recycled metals (“scrap”) is exported because of weak domestic demand and limited processing capacity.

Today, the Commission takes action to maintain and expand European industrial capacities in the steel and metals sectors. The Action Plan on Steel and Metals is designed to strengthen the sector’s competitiveness and safeguard the industry’s future.

Steel is the backbone of modern infrastructure, but its production is one of the most carbon-intensive industrial processes. As industries seek to cut emissions in line with global climate commitments, the push for ‘green steel’ has intensified. As Carl-Gustaf Göransson, CEO of Lindemann Metal Recycling, explains, at the heart of this transition lies a crucial, often overlooked, material – scrap metal.

The event drew together some leading names and brands in metal recycling to discuss the opportunities, challenges and future direction of the global industry.

EuRIC and BIR jointly express profound concern over the conclusions reached during the Summit on the Future of the European Steel Industry held in Paris on 27 February 2025.

Ahead of the inaugural Strategic Dialogue on Steel and the upcoming Steel and Metals Action Plan, EuRIC, the voice of Europe’s recyclers has published a Circular Economy Action Plan for Recycled Metals to steer discussions on the future of the steel industry through the lens of decarbonisation and circularity.

Lindemann Metal Recycling has appointe Gunard Polite as General Manager of Sales for its North American operations. Originally from Chicago, Polite’s professional journey has been as dynamic as his early years.

Thyssenkrupp Steel Europe (tkSE) has put a new annealing and isolating line in Bochum into service. The electrical steel strip processing line, supplied by SMS group, enables tkSE to produce high-grade NGO steel (non-grain-oriented electrical steel strip).

EuRIC has published its position on the future of the European steel industry, calling for measures that promote the use of recycled steel to achieve both environmental and economic resilience.