Borregaard, a Norwegian biochemicals producer, is currently building a new warehouse that will allow them to store all of their lignin in one place instead of different sites, thus improving logistics and reducing CO2 emissions from road transport. The warehouse is being built with beams from ArcelorMittal Europe – Long Products Sections and Merchant Bars.

330 tonnes of beams from Belval

Borregaard and the logistics company Borg Havn are building a modern, sustainable lignin warehouse in Øra, near Fredrikstad in Norway. The structure of this new 19 000 square-metre warehouse is currently being built with 330 tonnes of beams produced by ArcelorMittal Europe – Long Products Sections and Merchant Bars' mill in Belval, Luxembourg.

A modern, sustainable lignin warehouse

The new warehouse will bring many benefits:

• Optimise product flow and improve logistics: Today, Borregaard stores lignin at a number of different sites, several of which are outside the company's premises. Lignin is currently transported via Borregaard's own port facility or by road to Borg Havn for delivery to customers. A new warehouse to store all of the lignin will therefore mean more efficient logistics with fewer stages of transportation.
• Strengthen the position of the port: "Increased volumes will allow for transport to more European destinations, which will also benefit other users of the port. In this way, sea transport will increase and heavy road traffic will decrease," says Tore Lundestad, Port Director of Borg.

The building has also been designed with energy-saving solutions such as roof-mounted solar cells.

Zero-emissions solutions

Borregaard is keen to have efficient zero-emissions solutions for the transportation of raw materials to its production facilities and products to its customers. In addition to a joint pilot project to study possible autonomous transport solutions by ship across the Glomma river between Sarpsborg and Fredrikstad, Borregaard is also looking into the future potential for road transport using electric vehicles.

"This project will reduce CO2 emissions from road transport and relieve traffic growth on European roads. It will also greatly reduce the local heavy transport related to Borregaard's exports from Borg Havn," says Per A. Sørlie, CEO of Borregaard.

Borregaard's plant in Sarpsborg has an annual lignin capacity of 160 000 tonnes, and an increasing proportion is speciality products. A centralised warehouse at Borg is part of a project where Borregaard is investing 500 million NOK in upgrading and specialisation of the Sarpsborg plants producing lignin products. The project also involves enhanced drying capacity, new ideas for the storage of liquid materials, and improved solutions for logistics, infrastructure, and energy.

The warehouse will be completed by the end of 2019.

About Borregaard

Borregaard owns one of the world's most advanced and sustainable biorefineries. By using natural, sustainable raw materials, Borregaard produces advanced and eco-friendly biochemicals that can replace oil-based products. Borregaard has 1010 employees in factories and sales offices in 16 countries in Europe, America, Asia, and Africa. Borregaard also has strong positions in ingredients and fine chemicals.

About Borg Havn

Borg Havn Iks was founded in 2000. The company's line of business includes marine cargo handling services. Borg Havn Fredrikstad and Sarpsborg offers easy access, large capacity, and efficient logistics. They provide simple cargo handling and short boat times. The port is therefore a natural alternative for the transport industry, and they are a preferred partner within maritime transport and logistics. From Borg Havn, it is just a short distance to the E6, upon which you can reach Oslo in under an hour, and it takes only 20 minutes to reach Svinesund in Sweden.

Text: ArcelorMittal Europe, Constructalia
Photos: Henning Klausen at Metacon

The technical objective of the LVS3 project is to disseminate knowledge acquired in recent years about the environmental impact assessment of steel and composite buildings. During the last decade, a lot of research projects have been funded to develop methodologies, systems, and products aimed at improving thermal efficiency as well as the global environmental footprint of steel buildings. The new EN 15804 standard, intended for environmental calculation of buildings, now takes into account the fact that steel is a recyclable material (Module D).

Sustainability includes environmental, economic, and social concerns for achieving long-lasting development. Sustainability of construction comprises the major health and environmental aspects related to the life cycles of all types of buildings. A building’s life cycle includes production, use, deconstruction, the underlying activities, materials, and energy flows, all of which generate inevitable influence on the planet – both good and bad. Steel, as a building material, has undeniable and inherent advantages in this respect, among others, due to its mature process of recycling.

The aim of the dissemination project LVS3: Large Valorisation on Sustainability of Steel Structures (RFS2-CT-2013-00016) is to provide information on the different steps used for the environmental assessment of steel and composite buildings in AMECO software.

The software and documents were developed and validated within the scope of the European Research Fund for Coal and Steel (RFCS) project SB-Steel: Sustainability of Steel Buildings (SB_Steel, 2014).

The project was divided into four steps:

•     realisation of documentation and software about the sustainability of steel structures
•     translation of the documentation and software interface
•     training for partners involved in seminars
•     organisation of seminars in different European countries

The dissemination package available consists of different documents and software:

•     a design guide
•     a background document
•     AMECO software
•     an App version (mobiles/tablets) of LCA calculations available; also in the App Store (iOS) and Google Play (Android)
•     PowerPoint presentations
•     all of the documents translated into the majority of the European languages

All of the documents are also available on the following website dedicated to this project in (almost) all European languages: http://sustainable-steel.eu/

ArcelorMittal is recognised as a Steel Sustainability Champion for the second year running by the World Steel Association (worldsteel) at its board meeting in April in Madrid, Spain.

The accolade distinguishes the steel companies who, like ArcelorMittal, are leading by example in creating a truly sustainable steel industry. The Steel Sustainability Champion programme seeks to encourage other steel companies to increase their efforts, set higher standards, and demonstrate a strong commitment to sustainable development and the circular economy.

Dedication to sustainability

This designation reflects ArcelorMittal’s dedication to worldsteel’s sustainable development charter; the company’s regular and transparent reporting on its environmental, social, and economic performance; its commitment to providing a safe and healthy work environment for steelworkers; and its double success in 2018’s Steelie Awards, where it won the ‘Excellence in sustainability’ and ‘Excellence in life cycle assessment’ categories.

Worldsteel represents steel producers (including nine of the world’s 10 largest steel companies), national and regional steel industry associations, and steel research institutes. Its members account for about 85% of global steel production.

Recognising the importance of sustainability

Brian Aranha, Executive Vice President, Head of Strategy, CTO, R&D, CCM, Global Automotive, Communications and Corporate Responsibility, ArcelorMittal said, “It is an honour to be in Madrid and accept the award on behalf of ArcelorMittal. As the world’s leading steel company, we recognise the importance of sustainability for our business and the steel industry because it sits at the heart of securing a license to operate. Securing sustainability champion status for the second year in a row is a confirmation of our dedication to making sustainable development a priority for our business.”

Text: ArcelorMittal Communications, Constructalia
Photo: Worldsteel

ArcelorMittal has taken a leading role in forming and committing to ResponsibleSteel™, the steel industry's first multi-stakeholder global certification initiative.

First global certification programme

ResponsibleSteel™ was set up in 2015 as a non-profit organisation to drive a more responsible future for the steel industry. It will achieve this by building the first global certification programme and standard for the entire steel value chain from mining, to production processes, to final stage sales, and distribution. Certification standards will include the following areas:

• Climate Change & Greenhouse Gas Emissions
• Water Responsibility & Biodiversity
• Human Rights & Labour Law
• Local Communities & Business Integrity

ArcelorMittal’s commitment

Explaining ArcelorMittal’s commitment to ResponsibleSteel™, Alan Knight, Global Head of Sustainable Development, said that "responsible production techniques and high ethical and business standards are becoming increasingly important to our customers, and ultimately to their customers and consumers. We want to get to a point where steel users and purchasers have total confidence in their choices. ResponsibleSteel™ provides us with a fantastic opportunity to do this and to create the world’s first certification programme for the industry.”

About ResponsibleSteel™

ResponsibleSteel™ is a membership-based organisation currently comprising 22 members including steel producers, car manufacturers (BMW Group and Daimler), finance providers such as HSBC, industry organisations and NGOs. The scheme will formally launch its certification standards following a rigorous accreditation process which is expected to conclude towards the end of 2019. Once launched, ResponsibleSteel™ expects to rapidly grow its membership base with the aim of becoming the industry-recognised standard around the world.

ArcelorMittal continues to leap forward in steel solutions with the release of Steligence®. Ushering in a new wave of high-performance building and construction techniques, this fresh and innovative concept ensures that each steel component interacts in a complementary way.

"Taking a holistic approach to sustainable construction." (Prof. Olivier Vassart)

Steligence® was developed after a number of years of scientific and industry reviewed research that has resulted in a profound new approach to construction built on a strong foundation of sustainability.

Addressing current issues in the building industry, Steligence® is a philosophy that incorporates all elements of design and encourages more communication among the architectural and engineering experts involved in a building project.

Keeping only the strongest elements of traditional construction methods, Steligence® incorporates the best available technology in steelmaking and a new and fresh approach to sustainability in terms of the overall design process and the future life of a building.

The Steligence® approach includes a broad range of steel products for construction which individually add value, but together represent a compelling portfolio with a range of defined benefits.

A win-win solution

During a speech at the London launch event, Greg Ludkovsky, ArcelorMittal’s global head of research and development, explained that “as climate, energy and resource scarcity intensifies, win-win solutions like Steligence® become imperative for business and society at large. Buildings play a huge part in all our lives, so creating a construction concept that improves their social, economic and environmental impact while dramatically enhancing their functionality and aesthetics has been a huge but important challenge.”