ArcelorMittal Belgium, a subsidiary of Luxembourg-based global steel giant ArcelorMittal, has announced that it is launching a new project in collaboration with Vanheede Environment Group, Ghent University and CRM Group, “SMART: Steelmaking with Alternative Reductants”. The SMART project allows the replacement of fossil carbon-containing reductants such as coal with circular waste-based reductants.
The project is an innovative process to reduce carbon emissions by chemically recovering end-of-life plastics and other waste. With this project, the company reinforces the specific implementation of its sustainability strategy to reduce carbon emission by 35 percent by 2030 compared to 2018.
In the scope of the collaboration, Vanheede Environment Group will supply ArcelorMittal with AlterCoal® pellets. These pellets are a mixture of industrial residuals and non-recyclable plastics with a high carbon content. The SMART project will allow the chemical recovery of these AlterCoal® pellets into metallurgical coke and into pulverized coal. Both take on the role of reductant and energy source in the blast furnace.