Solutions by
Performance
As a member of IBU, Institut für Bau und Umwelt, ArcelorMittal has decided to implement a large programme of construction product EPDs in order to demonstrate their best in class performances.
Among our large product offer, product and solution EPDs already include:
- Organic coated steels, such as the Granite® range, which have also received ECCA Premium® labelling including sustainable criteria. All Granite® products are produced heavy metal free.
- European sections range.
- Construction solutions like mineral wool sandwich panels.
- Combination of high strength steels and Magnelis® for best in class guardrail systems.
Other construction product & solution EPDs will also become available in the coming months.
Sustainable design and material selection for sustainable construction is already of major importance for designers, which is why ArcelorMittal is willing to demonstrate the key assets of its construction products.
Solutions by
ApplicationProduct sustainability
ArcelorMittal’s core values consist of “Safe Sustainable Steel”. Therefore, it is of major importance for us to provide steel products and solutions that take into account sustainability performances.
Useful information
MoreThe United Nations’ 1987 Brundtland Commission Report “Our Common Future” states the following: Well-designed ecosystem conservation contributes to the predominant goals of sustainable development in a number of ways… And thus, the sustainability development concept was born.
As a matter of fact, a sustainable product focusses on its global environmental footprint, which means balancing economic, ecological, and technical factors. Carbon emissions, recycled content, and also resource efficiency must be considered at every stage of a modern construction.
The EPD, Environmental Product Declaration, established in accordance with European standards enables the assessment and declaration of a product's environmental impact throughout its life cycle.
Establishing a construction product's life cycle means that companies must look at the entire ‘life’ of a product (known as the “cradle to grave” approach) including: raw material extraction, manufacturing, distribution, erection on site, the use phase of the building, as well as end of life, including dismantling and recycling.
This holistic approach is complex as there are many stages that need to be measured and parameters that need to be considered. It is well acknowledged that steel is one of the most sustainable materials for construction, as well as being the most effectively recycled.
Related news & technical articles
New Environmental Product Declarations!
28 July 2020ArcelorMittal Europe is pleased to announce two new Environmental Production Declarations for Hot rolled steel coils, including Indaten® weathering steels and Amstrong® high strength steels, and Cold rolled steel coils, including Indaten® weathering steels.
Product NewsCorrosion protection: an integral part of the fabrication process for steel structures
When it comes to choosing materials, steel, because of its exceptional physical and mechanical characteristics, is the most popular amongst designers. It can be used to rapidly build economical, durable, and safe structures. The steel used to make hot-rolled sections, which can themselves be indefinitely recycled, is made from recycled scrap. It is particularly suitable for machining and shaping. However, it tends to react with agents in the atmosphere to form stable thermodynamic bonds – ferrous oxides and/or salts.The ability of steel to revert to its natural or original state is called corrosion. In layman’s terms: steel rusts!
ArticleArcelorMittal Europe sets out path to net zero by 2050
8 July 2020ArcelorMittal Europe has set out the path to net zero by 2050, with pioneering technologies at the forefront of the company’s roadmap for carbon-neutral steelmaking. Europe’s largest steelmaker, unveils breakthrough technologies that will take the company to 30% lower CO2 emissions by 2030, and carbon neutrality by 2050. ArcelorMittal Europe is investing in two routes to carbon neutrality, Smart Carbon and an innovative DRI-based route, in recognition of the need to act now to reduce CO2 emissions, in line with the EU’s Green Deal and the Paris Agreement. Calls for new policy framework, to support the industry in its transition to carbon neutrality, name five market conditions that are needed for Europe’s steelmakers to compete globally.
Corporate NewsEU supports ArcelorMittal to scale up breakthrough technology to reduce carbon emissions
28 May 2020The European Investment Bank (EIB), with the support of the European Commission, has granted a 75 million EUR loan to ArcelorMittal for the construction of two ground-breaking projects at ArcelorMittal Ghent, Belgium, to considerably reduce carbon emissions by converting waste and by-products into valuable new products, helping to develop low-carbon steelmaking technologies, in line with the EU’s climate objectives.
Corporate NewsExpo 2020 Dubai postponed
18 May 2020Due to the coronavirus pandemic, World Expo, like other world events, has been postponed. The event will now take place from 1 October 2021 to 31 March 2022 in Dubai, UAE. Called Expo 2020 Dubai, it will be the first World Expo ever hosted in the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia (MEASA) region. Expo 2020 Dubai is expected to attract 25 million visitors, and 190 nations have already confirmed their participation including Luxembourg with a 2100 m2 pavilion built with ArcelorMittal Europe – Long Products’ steel.
Project NewsNew EPD for heavy plates & structural steels
4 May 2020ArcelorMittal Europe - Flat Products has released a new EPD (Environmental Product Declaration) for heavy plates and structural steels.
Product News
New Environmental Product Declarations!
ArcelorMittal Europe is pleased to announce two new Environmental Production Declarations for Hot rolled steel coils, including Indaten® weathering steels and Amstrong® high strength steels, and Cold rolled steel coils, including Indaten® weathering steels.
An EPD - Environmental Product Declaration - is an independently verified and registered document that communicates transparent and comparable information about the life-cycle environmental impact of products.
ArcelorMittal Europe is a member of IBU – Institut Bauen und Umwelt e. V. We publish EPDs providing construction product data to demonstrate our commitment to sustainable building deployment all over the world.
Click on the link to discover ArcelorMittal's Environmental Product Declarations.
Related link(s)
Corrosion protection: an integral part of the fabrication process for steel structures
When it comes to choosing materials, steel, because of its exceptional physical and mechanical characteristics, is the most popular amongst designers. It can be used to rapidly build economical, durable, and safe structures. The steel used to make hot-rolled sections, which can themselves be indefinitely recycled, is made from recycled scrap. It is particularly suitable for machining and shaping. However, it tends to react with agents in the atmosphere to form stable thermodynamic bonds – ferrous oxides and/or salts.
The ability of steel to revert to its natural or original state is called corrosion. In layman’s terms: steel rusts!
Suitable corrosion protection for long-lasting steel
The primary quality of steel - i.e. its ability to retain its physical and mechanical strength, or in the case of a steel structure, its load bearing capacity - is generally long-lasting and is only compromised when corrosion reduces its cross section to such a degree that safety is adversely affected.
The service life of a structure depends on the rate of reaction between the steel and its environment. These reactions depend on the nature and concentration of the corrosive agents present.
Corrosion protection of structures must therefore be considered as intervening in this process in order to prevent the reaction or greatly reduce the rate.
Large numbers of steel structures, some of them a hundred years old, which have benefited from the combination of a suitable corrosion protection treatment and regular maintenance, show impressively the potential of steel. However, these types of structures, requiring high maintenance costs, are no longer acceptable today.
New requirements govern the design of the steel structures of the twenty-first century:
• Environmental protection policies enforced at both the national and international level have led to a considerable reduction in the amount of corrosive load in the atmosphere over the last twenty years. This has resulted in a noticeable drop in the average corrosion rate of steel and zinc as well as improved resistance of coating systems.
• The design of steel structures is substantially improved through the effectiveness of welding procedures and the vast range of rolled sections available thus contributing positively to ensure that corrosion protection systems have long service lives. Maintenance and renovation costs continue to fall because the amount of exposed surface area has been greatly reduced and ease of access improved. The ability of new coatings to resist the stresses in their surroundings has been increased considerably. New inexpensive coating methods are employed in fabrication shops and on construction sites.
• Zinc baths have sufficient capacity and are large enough to allow widespread hot-dip galvanisation of steel structures involving large components.
• Combining the hot-dip galvanisation technique with adapted paint systems for zinc coatings - so called duplex systems – renders maintenance unnecessary with, in most cases, the corrosion protection not requiring any attention for the entire service life of the structure.
• Corrosion protection is becoming an integral part of the fabrication process for steel structures.
Text: ArcelorMittal Commercial Sections
Images: ArcelorMittal Europe - Long Products, ArcelorMittal, ArcelorMittal Europe - Flat Products
Related link(s)
Corrosion protection of rolled steel sections using hot-dip galvanization
Corrosion Protection: Hot-dip Galvanizing of Structural Steel
Corrosion Protection: Hot-dip Galvanizing of Structural Steel
ArcelorMittal Europe sets out path to net zero by 2050
ArcelorMittal Europe has set out the path to net zero by 2050, with pioneering technologies at the forefront of the company’s roadmap for carbon-neutral steelmaking.
- Europe’s largest steelmaker, unveils breakthrough technologies that will take the company to 30% lower CO2 emissions by 2030, and carbon neutrality by 2050.
- ArcelorMittal Europe is investing in two routes to carbon neutrality, Smart Carbon and an innovative DRI-based route, in recognition of the need to act now to reduce CO2 emissions, in line with the EU’s Green Deal and the Paris Agreement.
- Calls for new policy framework, to support the industry in its transition to carbon neutrality, name five market conditions that are needed for Europe’s steelmakers to compete globally.
Smart Carbon and DRI
ArcelorMittal Europe has announced details of how it plans to become carbon neutral by 2050 in its first climate action report. Building on the company’s work that has demonstrated that the steelmaking process can become carbon neutral, the report publishes details of the ground-breaking work underway to reduce emissions by 30% by 2030 before reaching net zero in 2050.
The company is pioneering two breakthrough carbon-neutral routes for steelmaking: Smart Carbon and an innovative DRI-based route.
Smart Carbon is a carbon-neutral steelmaking route that leverages all clean energies – circular carbon, clean electricity, and carbon capture and storage (CCS) - within the high temperature-controlled reduction environment of ironmaking. In its first phase, Smart Carbon will primarily use circular carbon.
Reaching carbon-neutral steelmaking via DRI involves moving from using predominantly natural gas to hydrogen as the key reductant in ironmaking. As this hydrogen becomes ‘green’, the steelmaking process comes close to carbon neutrality.
Complementary technologies will enable progress
While both the Smart Carbon route and the DRI-based route have the potential to deliver carbon-neutral steel by 2050, the important difference between the two routes is that Smart Carbon can deliver results sooner, through its use of complementary technologies which enable incremental progress. Uniquely, Smart Carbon has the potential not only to provide carbon-neutral steel, but also carbon-neutral cement, and the building blocks to make recycled carbon materials to replace polyethylene-based plastics. Smart Carbon can also contribute to CO2 removal, through the increased use of circular carbon, using sustainable biomass and waste, combined with scaling up CCS.
By investing in both routes – and in recognition of the need to act now to combat climate change - this means ArcelorMittal Europe can significantly reduce scope 1 CO2 emissions* – which include all process emissions - by 2030 over a 2018 baseline, while waiting for the large-scale, affordable renewable energy needed for hydrogen-based steelmaking.
ArcelorMittal Europe’s 2030 target therefore combines Smart Carbon technologies and increased scrap usage, specifically by developing new ways to increase the use of low-quality scrap metal – which is hard to recycle - in the primary steel production process.
Leveraging all three clean energies
In the longer-term, both routes have the potential to leverage all three clean energies to achieve carbon neutrality, namely:
- clean electricity (generated by sources such as solar and wind)
- circular carbon (making use of biowaste materials, such as sustainable forestry and agriculture residues, to produce bioenergy)
- carbon capture and storage (capturing CO2 before it is emitted, transporting it and storing it safely underground)
Commenting on the report, Aditya Mittal, President and CFO, ArcelorMittal, and CEO ArcelorMittal Europe, said:
“Climate change is one of the greatest challenges facing us all. Understandably, much attention is currently focussed on navigating the unexpected and unprecedented outbreak of Covid-19. However, climate change remains a huge long-term challenge that will require diligent attention and progress for decades to come. And like Covid-19, it is not something that one country or one company can solve alone. Carbon emissions also know no border, so it will take a global effort, with all nations and companies playing their part.
“ArcelorMittal Europe is doing a lot of work to develop a path to net zero. The technologies we are working on have the potential to make a big impact. Indeed, steel should and can play a leading role in achieving the vision for Europe as outlined in the Green Deal. Our research and development team are one of the best in the industry and relish solving complex problems. But it needs a team effort. The support the EU and member states can give to ensure we have well-designed policy to make large-scale, competitive, carbon-neutral steelmaking a reality, is critical.”
Industrial-scale demonstration projects for every part of the carbon-neutral roadmap
ArcelorMittal Europe has industrial-scale demonstration projects under construction for every part of its carbon-neutral roadmap. The company is building industrial-scale demonstration plants at its operations in Belgium (Carbalyst® and Torero) and France (3D and IGAR in Dunkirk). In Hamburg, Germany, we are in the design and funding phase prior to the investment decision of an industrial-scale project to use hydrogen instead of natural gas in the direct reduction of iron ore (DRI). These demonstration plants will allow the company to scale-up technologies that will be used in the Smart Carbon and DRI-based routes. The progress made has also been possible thanks to financial support from EU member states and European Union funding. ArcelorMittal Europe is now in the process of applying for funding for a further six projects.
While some of the technologies that feature in ArcelorMittal Europe’s roadmap will be ready for commercial-scale use by 2025, and by 2030 many of the Smart Carbon technologies can be mature and partially deployed across our facilities in Europe, the report also highlights the need for the right policy framework to enable European steelmaking to contribute to the EU’s climate targets, particularly given the costs involved. In total, the estimated investment needed for ArcelorMittal Europe to fully implement Smart Carbon is €15-25bn and €30-40bn for the DRI-based route. An additional €15–200bn would be required for the associated clean energy infrastructure (see report for more detail).
Geert Van Poelvoorde, CEO ArcelorMittal Europe – Flat Products, explained:
“I am proud of the work that has brought us this far in our efforts to create Europe’s first and largest carbon-neutral steelmaker. Our progress would not have been possible without the many partners we have on our Smart Carbon and innovative DRI projects. Today, the biggest barrier to transitioning to carbon-neutral steel, beyond the necessary technologies reaching commercial maturity, is the absence of the right market conditions. The financial costs of realising carbon-neutral steelmaking are undeniably huge. However, with a shift in market conditions brought about by having the right policies in place, European steelmakers will be able to unlock the means to reduce emissions from steel globally, while also ensuring the European steel industry remains competitive.”
Medium-term market conditions required
The medium-term market conditions needed include:
- Creating an environment where carbon-neutral steel is more competitive than steel which is not carbon neutral.
- A fair competitive landscape that accounts for the global nature of the steel market, addressing domestic, import and export steel dynamics, as well as the distinction between primary and secondary sources to make steel.
- Access to sustainable finance, to innovate and make long-term investments.
- Access to abundant, affordable clean energy: the scale of the steel industry’s energy needs are such that concerted cross-sector and government efforts will be required to develop the necessary clean energy infrastructure.
- Public instruments to accelerate innovative technology deployment to transition to carbon neutral steelmaking.
Carbon Border Adjustment should be introduced in the European Union
The report also reiterates the company’s position that a Carbon Border Adjustment should be introduced in the European Union, which would ensure that EU-produced steel and imported steel tonnes in direct competition would have an equal carbon cost, creating a fair market and, crucially, encouraging investment in lower-emissions steel production.
ArcelorMittal Europe announced its target to reduce CO2 emissions by 30% by 2030 in December 2019, and its ambition to be carbon neutral by 2050 in June 2019.
The ArcelorMittal group will publish its 2030 target later this year.
*ArcelorMittal Europe 30% CO2 reduction target includes: ArcelorMittal Europe – Flat Products, ArcelorMittal Europe – Long Products, and Industeel
Text: ArcelorMittal
Images: ArcelorMittal
Report: ArcelorMittal
Videos: ArcelorMittal
Related link(s)
EU supports ArcelorMittal to scale up breakthrough technology to reduce carbon emissions
The European Investment Bank (EIB), with the support of the European Commission, has granted a 75 million EUR loan to ArcelorMittal for the construction of two ground-breaking projects at ArcelorMittal Ghent, Belgium, to considerably reduce carbon emissions by converting waste and by-products into valuable new products, helping to develop low-carbon steelmaking technologies, in line with the EU’s climate objectives.
Overview of the projects
Steelanol: a 165 million EUR industrial-scale demonstration plant that will capture waste gases from the blast furnace and biologically convert them into recycled-carbon ethanol, the first commercial product of ArcelorMittal’s Carbalyst® family of recycled carbon chemicals. The ethanol produced can be blended for use as a liquid fuel. The technology was developed by LanzaTech, with whom ArcelorMittal has entered a long-term partnership, together with Primetals and E4tech.
Once complete, the plant is expected to produce up to 80 million litres of recycled-carbon ethanol a year. The new installation will create up to 500 construction jobs over the next two years and 20 to 30 new permanent direct jobs. The project is expected to be completed in 2022.
Torero: a 50 million EUR large-scale demonstration plant to convert waste wood into bio-coal, partially replacing the coal currently injected into the blast furnace.
In the early stage, the Torero plant will be able to convert up to 60 000 tonnes of waste wood into around 40 000 tonnes of bio-coal every year. This volume will be doubled in a second stage of the project, after the start of the first Torero reactor. The new installation will create around 70 external jobs and will create around ten new permanent direct jobs for the operation of this installation. The plant, which is being developed in partnership with Torr-Coal, Renewi, Joanneum Research Centre, Graz University and Chalmers Technical University, is expected to be operational by the end of 2022.
Comments on the projects
EIB Vice-President Ambroise Fayolle said: “Even in the current difficult times, Europe keeps its ambitious climate targets and the EIB, the EU climate bank, is committed to continuing to be a key partner. In particular in the steel industry, it means finding new ways to power machines and processes that are essential for reducing carbon emissions. Thanks to a strong partnership with the European Commission, the EIB is very pleased to support the Steelanol and Torero projects in their efforts to work on more climate friendly and competitive processes.”
Mariya Gabriel, European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, said: “This EU backed loan will enable us to demonstrate that European steelmaking plants can be competitive while reducing carbon emissions and help us attain our climate goals. More than this, if we invest in European research, education and innovation we can demonstrate the global leadership that can secure and strengthen these industries and the people and communities they support for future generations.”
Geert Van Poelvoorde, CEO ArcelorMittal Europe – Flat Products said: “To date we have committed more than 250 million EUR to developing and testing technology that will help make steelmaking carbon neutral, leveraging our R&D facilities around the world. These two projects are our first large-scale implementations of new breakthrough solutions, as part of our commitment to reduce carbon emissions and transform steel production. With the EIB and European Commission’s support, we can scale up technologies and transition steel to carbon neutrality, and thereby play a significant role in helping Europe achieve its green ambitions.”
Jennifer Holmgren, CEO LanzaTech said: “The European Commission and the EIB continue to play a key role in enabling a new carbon economy for Europe by supporting innovative projects. Chemicals and liquid fuels, especially in the aviation sector, still need a source of carbon, while power generation can and should be fully decarbonized. Carbon recycling gives us a choice as to where the carbon in our products comes from: fresh fossil or reused carbon emissions. Our groundbreaking partnership with ArcelorMittal highlights their continued leadership in helping to create a low carbon economy in Europe.”
Additional details
- The Steelanol and Torero projects are set to reduce up to 350 000 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year in the first phase.
- The CO2 reduction is equivalent to greenhouse gas emissions of a quarter of a million passenger vehicles being driven for one year.
- ArcelorMittal Europe has committed to reduce CO2 emissions by 30% by 2030, with a further ambition to be carbon neutral by 2050, in line with the EU’s Green Deal and the Paris Agreement.
- EIB investment is supported by InnovFin Energy Demonstration Projects and financed under Horizon 2020 and the NER 300 funding programme of the European Commission.
Text: ArcelorMittal
Images: ArcelorMittal
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Expo 2020 Dubai postponed
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, World Expo, like other world events, has been postponed. The event will now take place from 1 October 2021 to 31 March 2022 in Dubai, UAE. Called Expo 2020 Dubai, it will be the first World Expo ever hosted in the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia (MEASA) region. Expo 2020 Dubai is expected to attract 25 million visitors, and 190 nations have already confirmed their participation including Luxembourg with a 2100 m2 pavilion built with ArcelorMittal Europe – Long Products’ steel.
Steel from Belval and Differdange
ArcelorMittal was selected to supply the steel products for the construction of the building’s structure. The 170 tonnes of hot rolled structural steel shapes from the IPE and HE European size series were made in the Luxembourg mills of Belval and Differdange - in electric arc furnaces fed with recycled scrap as raw material. This is today’s most energy and resource preserving production route. As a natural key advantage of steel, the structural components were designed with mechanically fastened connections. At no extra cost, this solution allows for the economical disassembling, transportation, and reassembling of the pavilion for its next-use life.
A breathtaking design inspired by its nation
The pavilion is inspired by its nation: small and ambitious, intriguing and reassuring, and above all generous and open. The overall theme is ‘Opportunity,’ reflecting the country’s history, its present, and its future. The overall shape of the pavilion resembles a Möbius loop, where the twisting of a ribbon yields one single surface with no beginning and no end expressing infinity and, in particular, symbolising the circular economy. The face of the ribbon transiently serves as floor, wall, and ceiling thereby allowing a multifaceted scenography from the starting point to the top floor.
The visitors’ experience begins in the entrance area. As a kind of red carpet, a wide ramp between the inside and the outside skin of the building invites you on a journey of discovery via a gently sloped path to the next floor. It enthrals the visitors as they merge with the pavilion’s exhibition, which in a natural an interactive way displays a series of visuals featuring the country and its people.
The ground floor mainly accommodates the gift shop, restaurant, and the visitor’s ramp to the first floor. The first level hosts a multi-functional area for receptions and conferences, as well as the ramp guiding visitors without interruption towards the top. The second floor, the highest point, is dedicated to an exhibition of Luxembourg’s space economy.
To reach the earth again, a visitor has three options: taking the stairs or the lift are the conventional options, but a slide winding through the picturesque green patio is the fun one.
Key facts
- Typology: Exhibition pavilion
- Size: 2100 m2
- Investor: Luxembourg Government
- Architect: Metaform
- Consulting engineer: AuCARRE
- Engineer of record: WME Global
- General contractor: Nüssli Adunic
- Main contractor: Al Ahmadiah
- Steel fabricator: Iron Steel Makers Industries
Text: ArcelorMittal Europe Communications, Constructalia
Images: Metaform
Related link(s)
Expo 2020 Dubai: Luxembourg Pavilion
Expo 2020 Dubai: Luxembourg Pavilion - Inner steel structure
New EPD for heavy plates & structural steels
ArcelorMittal Europe - Flat Products has released a new EPD (Environmental Product Declaration) for heavy plates and structural steels.
This declaration refers to heavy plates - hot rolled products produced in dedicated quarto plate mills. It is certified by IBU (Institut Bauen und Umwelt e.V.) according to standards ISO 14025 and EN 15804 and covers all structural steel grades according to EN 10025, including weathering steels.
Heavy plates for construction can be used in various construction applications such as:
- Buildings: structural and built-up welded sections, trusses, box girders for heavy industrial steel frames, high-rise buildings, long-span structures for transport terminals and other infrastructure.
- Road and railway bridges: steel and composite structures made of welded built-up sections or box girders or trusses, arch and bow-string bridges, pedestrian and bicycles bridges, cable-stayed and suspension decks, and pylon bridges.
You can also download this new EPD for our heavy steel plates in our Document library.