Germany/Sweden: SSAB and Heidelberg Materials are entering a collaboration to develop electric arc furnace (EAF) slag into an alternative binder in cement mixtures. The research project brings together also leading expertise from universities and the Swedish metals research institute Swerim. The project aims to develop EAF slag into an efficient supplementary cementitious material (SCM) to reduce the CO2 footprint of the cement sector. The project has been granted funding of €1.9m through The Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth from the Just Transition Fund with national co-financing.
The new four-year research project builds on knowledge from previous successful research and collaboration initiatives. By bringing together leading expertise from Luleå University of Technology, the University of Oulu, and Swerim, along with industry partners SSAB and Heidelberg Materials, the project forms a strong consortium with unique competence and capacity. The focus is on developing methods to optimise the slag, from laboratory to pilot scale, and on evaluating performance in cement and concrete applications. The goal is to create an industrially scalable solution that can be applied to future products.
"This is a natural next step in our shared journey toward creating valuable solutions for our by-product,” said Marko Mäkikyrö, Director, Byproduct Sales & Development at SSAB. “We are transitioning to electric arc furnaces in Oxelösund with start of production planned for early 2027, in Luleå in 2029, and thereafter in Raahe, Finland. SSAB's goal is production in line with sustainable development and circular economy. Through this project, we are seizing these opportunities by combining strong expertise and long experience with a shared determination to drive change.”
"We see a good opportunity in including EAF slag from SSAB as part of our strategy to reduce the carbon footprint of our products. Through this collaboration, we unite leading expertise from industry and research with a common ambition to deliver the building materials of the future" said Magnus Ohlsson, CEO at Heidelberg Materials Cement Sverige AB.
Heidelberg Materials and SSAB have a long-standing collaboration on raw materials by using parts of SSAB's slag as input in cement production at the Slite cement plant in Sweden. This new project is an important part of a partnership as SSAB transitions its production to electric arc furnaces.
