Salzgitter is building a large-scale shredder plant for low-carbon steel production

By building a new shredder plant, steel manufacturer Salzgitter aims to ensure a high-quality and high-volume supply of scrap for low-carbon steel production.

Salzgitter AG has now commissioned the construction of a new scrap shredder plant. The plant, to be built on the integrated steelworks site in Salzgitter, in the immediate vicinity of the Salcos facilities currently under construction, is expected to cost around 30 million euros in total. The new plant will enable the processing of high-quality scrap grades. It will thus be a further building block for the production of ‘green steel’ as part of Salcos – Salzgitter Low CO₂ Steelmaking.
The Düsseldorf-based machinery and plant manufacturer Lindemann and the Belgian company Lybover have been commissioned to build the new shredder. Both companies have many years’ experience in the fields of mechanical engineering and shredding, as well as in processing plant and exhaust air technology, and will provide expert support to Salzgitter’s subsidiary Deutsche Erz- und Metall-Union GmbH (DEUMU) in setting up the 189-metre-long and 66-metre-wide plant, as Salzgitter has announced.
Sandrina Sieverdingbeck, Managing Director of DEUMU: “With this investment, we aim to strategically realign our scrap management operations at the Salzgitter site. We are seeking to expand our scrap recycling using high-quality steel scrap, thereby also enabling the future production of low-carbon steel. In this way, we are laying the foundations to ensure the Group’s future supply of scrap, both in terms of quantity and quality.” In parallel, DEUMU is working with internal partners to develop the ‘Salcos 4’ scrap grade, which meets the specifications required for the Salcos production process. The commissioning of the new unit is also timed to coincide with the launch of the first phase of the Salcos – Salzgitter Low CO₂ Steelmaking transformation programme in 2026. The conversion of steel production at the Salzgitter site is due to be fully completed by the end of 2033, well ahead of the legal requirements.
Gunnar Groebler, CEO of Salzgitter AG: “We know that – driven by the circular economy, i.e. a material cycle – global demand for scrap will rise significantly. It is precisely due to the worldwide increase in the electrification of steel production routes for low-carbon steel that the demand for high-quality steel scrap will rise. The processing of these scrap grades from end-of-life scrap will then be made possible primarily by modern shredding and sorting plants. The new shredder is therefore an investment in product quality and, above all, serves to secure our own supply.”
Source: Salzgitter AG