On the one hand, they are “enablers” of sustainability, for example in wind turbines, electric motors and lightweight construction. On the other hand, metals are considered the world’s largest driver of the climate crisis. Today, the production of steel, aluminum and copper causes around 10 percent of global CO2 emissions.

Solutions to decarbonize the steel industry are available. In Sweden, the first direct production plant is being built that is operated in a climate-neutral manner using 100 percent green hydrogen, and other steel companies are also making impressive leaps in efficiency by modernizing their plants. For example, by blowing in green hydrogen or synthesis gases electrically heated with green electricity, the carbon footprint of an existing blast furnace can be significantly reduced. Combined with carbon capture and use technologies and electrolysis, paths to green steel production are emerging.

Further levers include withdrawing from sector coupling with coal mining and increasing the production of raw materials such as lithium, nickel or copper for the energy transition. Sustainability effects lie in increased eco-effectiveness as well as in the reduction of negative social impacts. There is also great potential in increasing the recycling rates for steel, aluminum, but especially copper and all other non-ferrous metals that are crucial for the key technologies of the future. Metals, for example, have the great advantage over plastics that they can already be recycled almost 100% as often as required. At the same time, recycling makes the industry less dependent on mining products from global supply chains. In addition to developing aluminum alloys that can be recycled indefinitely, it is important to develop recycling technologies to recover lithium, nickel, cobalt and other metals and bring them back into the cycle. Globally, growth to 10 billion people and emerging middle classes in the global south will bring a drastic increase in demand. The industry has a great responsibility here not to see this volume growth as a jump in growth without thinking, but to develop smart concepts together with partner industries.

The industry includes, for example, the production of pig iron, steel and ferroalloys as well as non-ferrous metals including aluminum and copper. Metal processing companies are assigned to sector 42 “Metal and mineral processing”.