Global Slag News

Oman: Jindal Shadeed Iron and Steel (JSIS) has renewed its contract with US-based Harsco Corporation. Harsco Environmental will continue to provide slag management and metal recovery as well as skull processing services for JSIS for a five year period. JSIS has a steel production capacity of 2.4Mt/yr and it sells its products in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, China, Canada, Australia and parts of Europe.

“Using Harsco Environmental’s services to manage our slag benefits us in many ways,” said Sanjay Anand, chief operating officer and head of JSIS in Oman. “We are able to reduce our carbon footprint while increasing our production. Thanks to Harsco Environmental’s operational know-how, safety record and continuous support, JSIS can trust that each service provided is being done with the highest level of care.”

UK: Ecocem and construction company Taylor Woodrow have conducted the first pour of the Exegy ultra-low CO₂ concrete at waste management site in London. The mix used on the project is reported to reduce the carbon footprint by up to 70% when compared to traditional concrete. Cemex also collaborated on the project by producing the concrete used for the pour.

The concrete product was developed by Ecocem and Vinci Construction, using Ecocem Ultra, as part of Vinci Construction’s ultra-low carbon concrete range. Ireland-based Ecocem is a producer of cement and additives made using ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS). Exegy is already being used at a pilot site of the Grand Paris Express and in the construction of the Athletes’ Village in Paris for the 2024 Summer Olympic Games.

Micheál McKittrick, managing director, Northern Europe, Ecocem, said, “Our Ecocem Ultra technology is already being used at scale in France, and we’re excited to now see it being adopted in the UK.” He added, “The cement and construction industries are developing and deploying a range of emission reduction technologies to help the UK Government reduce emissions by 78% by 2035, and reach net zero by 2050, and Ecocem will add a further dimension to these efforts.”

India: Dalmia Cement (Bharat) has started using two electric trucks to transport slag as part of its E-Truck project. They are being used to transport slag from the Steel Authority of India Limited’s (SAIL) Rourkela plant to the cement producer’s plant at Rajgangpur. The company has also commissioned two charging stations at its Rajgangpur plant and three more are to be installed by March 2022. The E-Trucks initiative is intended to reduce Dalmia Cement Bharat’s carbon emissions from transportation and decrease its logistics costs. A further 20 electric trucks are intended to start use by the end of the 2022 financial year.

“Achieving environmental sustainability has always been a priority for us at Dalmia Cement Bharat from a business and a social standpoint. While we are grateful that our government is creating the right policy and investment environment that encourages organisations to take positive environmental action, as private organisations we need to take the lead,” said Mahendra Singhi, managing director and chief executive officer, Dalmia Cement Bharat. He added that the company was confident that it would able to achieve its sustainability goal of becoming carbon negative by 2040.

UK: Tarmac has started a long-term slag stevedoring contract with Associated British Ports (ABP) at Port Talbot in Wales. The new arrangement at Port Talbot will see ABP load 300,000t/yr of ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS). The slag will then typically be used in concrete production elsewhere in the UK. The agreement follows other partnerships between Tarmac and ABP at existing ports in Cardiff, Swansea, Newport, Garston (Liverpool), Southampton and Ipswich.

Andrew Harston, ABP Wales and Short Sea Ports director, said, “ABP continues to invest in its ports’ infrastructure and services, as well as sustainability measures, and we are delighted to win this new contract with Tarmac, which shares our commitments to the highest standards of health and safety, and sustainability.”

Japan: JFE Steel and Innoqua, a startup linked to the University of Tokyo, are working on using slag as an artificial bed for coral reef restoration. JFE Steel has recently installed a 1m fish tank in the lobby of its Tokyo-based headquarters as part of a feasibility test for the biodiversity initiative, according to the Nikkei newspaper. The companies are testing Marine Block, a product made from slag that is processed using a proprietary technique to allow coral to attach to it easily. The initiative will examine which species of corals are most likely to attach to the Marine Block, the ideal growing conditions and then move on to larger-scale coral breeding.

The Japanese steel industry produces over 35Mt/yr of slag. The majority of it is used in infrastructure projects. JFE Steel hopes to use about 10% of the slag it produces in 2030 in port and marine applications.