The future 🌱 of steel will depend on how efficiently we use the resources we already have. This is where CircSmeltSteel – Low carbon and circular valorisation of secondary materials in electric furnaces for proving high quality steelmaking with excellent product properties – begins. CircSmeltSteel – a new four-year Horizon Europe project dedicated to advancing circular and low-carbon steel production. Starting on 1 July 2026, 25 partners joined forces with a shared ambition: to unlock the potential of secondary materials and support a more sustainable, resource-efficient, and competitive European steel industry. Funded by the European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA) under Grant Agreement No. 101294187, CircSmeltSteel addresses a crucial challenge: How can metallurgical by-products become valuable resources while maintaining the high-quality standards required for advanced steel products? 🔍 Our mission CircSmeltSteel will validate the use of metallurgical by-products as secondary resources in electric furnace-based iron and steelmaking. The project will investigate their influence on steel chemistry, microstructure, and final product properties – creating the knowledge needed for future circular steel production. Key objectives include: ♻️ circular material flows and industrial symbiosis 🔥 low-carbon iron and steel production 💻 data-driven optimisation of steel processing 🌍 sustainable and competitive European manufacturing ⚙️ From research to application The project activities are organised into 10 interconnected work packages, each addressing a key aspect of our project, from project coordination and research to digital platform development and advanced metallurgy. A dedicated focus is also placed on project clustering activities, strengthening collaboration and knowledge exchange with other European initiatives working towards similar goals in green steel, circularity, decarbonisation, and sustainable industrial transformation. By connecting with complementary projects, CircSmeltSteel aims to maximise impact, share knowledge, and accelerate the uptake of innovative solutions across the steel value chain. 🤝 The people behind the innovation CircSmeltSteel is coordinated by Alexander Halwax from K1-MET GmbH. Together with the consortium and guided by Gabriele Morgante, Officer at HaDEA, 25 partners from Austria, Slovenia, Italy, Belgium, Germany, Spain, and Sweden will work together over the next four years to transform research into practical solutions for the steel industry. The transition towards sustainable steel requires collaboration across disciplines, borders, and sectors. CircSmeltSteel brings together the expertise needed to turn circularity from a vision into reality. 🚀 Follow our journey as we work towards the next generation of European steelmaking.
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