Tata Steel Nederland Joins European Project to Create 100% Recycled Steel for EVs and Appliances

Jamshedpur: Tata Steel Nederland has partnered with 12 major European organizations to launch CiSMA (Circular Steel for Mass Market Applications), a research initiative aimed at producing high-grade steel entirely from recycled scrap. The project seeks to prove that high-performance steel for the automotive and home appliance sectors can be manufactured without compromising quality while drastically cutting carbon footprints.

The Push for a Circular Economy

Currently, producing high-quality sheet steel for complex machinery requires specific raw materials to maintain durability. The CiSMA project, funded by the EU’s Horizon Europe program with a budget of €4.5 million, aims to shift this paradigm by using Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) technology and 100% scrap metal.

“The knowledge we gain together will help strengthen the European circular economy,” said Dr. Radhakanta Rana, a metallurgist at Tata Steel Nederland. “We can apply these insights to our own journey toward green steel, where we will increasingly use scrap to produce high-quality products.”

Slashing Emissions and Recovering Rare Materials

A primary goal of the research is to achieve a 70% reduction in overall CO₂ emissions during the production of sheet steel. Beyond climate impact, the project utilizes Machine Learning and digital modelling to tackle “contaminated” scrap. By filtering out impurities, researchers hope to recover critical raw materials like copper that are often lost in traditional recycling.

While the team acknowledges that 100% scrap use is not yet a market reality due to availability constraints, the findings will immediately improve the production of steel containing 30% to 40% scrap content.

Industry Leaders Join the Pilot

Commercial giants Volvo Cars and Electrolux Professional are participating as key partners to test the steel’s commercial viability.

• Automotive Testing: Volvo Cars is investigating how higher recycled content affects the “forming process” of car body parts.
• Industrial Appliances: Electrolux Professional views the project as a critical step in reducing Scope 3 emissions (upstream supply chain impact) for their laundry and kitchen equipment.

Global Collaboration

Coordinated by Eurecat in Spain, the 13-partner consortium includes heavyweights such as voestalpine, RISE, and the European Steel Technology Platform (ESTEP). The project represents a landmark effort to ensure that the “green” steel of the future offers the same performance as traditionally manufactured high-quality alloys.