From Scrap to Steel workshop aims at bringing together academics and industry professionals interested in exchanging ideas and research results on residual elements from steel recycling. This conference is co-organized by PEPR DIADEM (France2030) and RNM (Réseau National de la Métallurgie) / SF2M.

• International keynote lectures
• Invited presentations from academia and industry
• Poster contributions from participants

• Scrap sorting
• Steel and cast-iron production
• Characterization of residual elements
• Microstructures and mechanical/durability properties
• New production processes to eliminate these residuals
• Life cycle of products and production routes
• Socio-Economic aspects of the recycling sector

The whole European steel industry is being driven to reduce its direct and indirect CO₂ emissions and could achieve CO₂ emissions cuts of 80-95% in 2050 compared to 1990 levels. However, this change is not an instantaneous shift; it is an iterative process that will require adjustments and incremental transitions.

In the flat carbon sector or the cast-iron production sector, a significant portion of production is handled by the Blast Furnace (BF) & converter route. This route is particularly high in CO₂ emissions because the reduction of iron ore is achieved using metallurgical coke. Short-term CO₂ emission reductions can be achieved largely through energy efficiency improvements and an increase in the scrap recycling rate in converter. However, longer-term reductions will require the large adoption of Direct Reduced Iron (DRI) and Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) and smelting reduction technologies that facilitate the integration of low-carbon electricity (directly or through electrolytic hydrogen). Hence, it becomes imperative to increase the share of scrap-based steel production by EAFs. This process maximizes secondary flows and recycling. EAF producers are more environmentally friendly and flexible to the ups and downs of demand.

In the long products or stainless-steel sectors, a significant portion of production is already handled by electric furnaces due to the more limited production volumes. However, the substantial scrap requirements of the carbon flat sector will create competition for resources, both in terms of the necessarily renewable electricity (otherwise, the intensive electrification of the steel industry would not make sense) and the availability of high-quality steel scrap.

In fact, in addition to iron, scrap constitutes a contribution of certain residual elements («tramp elements»). These elements cannot be eliminated using the existing liquid metal refining technologies. Consequently, they have a noticeable impact on the development of microstructures and, subsequently, on the ultimate properties of the steel, including toughness, ductility, weldability, and more. The future availability of good quality scrap, i.e., with a low level of residual elements, will lead to speculative tensions on the markets and competitions of use. This criticality will increase over time because the scrap will be gradually enriched due to the lack of maturity of the sorting processes during recycling.

The revolution of shifting to BF based to EAF-based steel production is not without unforeseen new challenges. It is therefore time to develop a new metallurgical science, a «Science of Dirty Alloys». This is one of the well identified key challenges for a new sustainable metallurgy according to Raabe et al..