Qatarization PortalMaterials and Circular Economy
Qatar Steel aspires to be the foremost leader in recycling and reusing within the Qatar industry sector. To accomplish this ambition, we remain committed to utilising responsibly sourced materials and maximising the utilisation of recycled or scrap materials whenever feasible, while optimising the management of the by-products that are generated within our processes.
USING RECYCLED RAW MATERIALS IN STEEL MAKING
Scrap is our primary raw material for recycling, obtained both from local suppliers and generated internally during our processes. Additionally, we recycle other materials such as MgO-C bricks and reduced briquettes (RBQ) from our operations. Despite our continuous efforts to increase the amount of recycled materials, the percentage of scrap and the overall proportion of recycled materials used in our processes decreased in 2022. This decline in scrap recycling can be attributed to a reduced availability of local scrap compared to previous years. To prevent similar situations in the future, we are committed to conducting research to identify new suppliers beyond our local network. Additionally, due to mothballing of cold briquetting plant in 2022, the reduced briquettes (RBQ) were not consumed. However, we experienced an increase in the recycling of MgO-C bricks, which served as a partial replacement for Dololime bricks in our EAF plant.
BY-PRODUCTS MANAGEMENT
At Qatar Steel, we have successfully developed a thorough protocol that outlines the steps for identification, segregation, collection, and disposal of waste generated as a result of our business operations. In addition, we have conducted extensive research and implemented diverse strategies to effectively recycle our by-products internally or externally to Qatar Steel.
In 2022 we accomplished a significant milestone, surpassing our 2026 target for recycling all generated Electric Furnace (EF) slag by externally recycling it for several construction application. Furthermore, we exceeded our initial goal of recycling 84% of all other by-products by doubling the achievement within the reporting period by recycling through a third party.
In pursuit of our goal to become the leader in material management through reuse and recycling, we have undertaken a comprehensive research initiative. Our focus has been on identifying potential avenues for reusing and recycling steel byproducts aligning with the World Steel NetZero Methodology Pathway. As a result, we have identified several opportunities. Firstly, we successfully commissioned our byproducts briquetting plant, which restarted its operations in 2023. Additionally, we have identified other promising opportunities, including the supply of EAF dust for cement clinker production in a local cement company, recycling lime dust in our DR plant for oxide pellet coating, recycling MgO-C Bricks as a partial replacement of dololime in EAF, and recycling of DR fines and DR dust in the cold briquetting plant.
MATERIAL EFFICIENCY
To ensure efficient monitoring of our materials management performance, we have implemented a key performance indicator (KPI) that holds great importance for our production process. This KPI is determined by calculating the ratio between the raw materials utilised in the process and the quantity of semi-finished products produced4. Our material efficiency has remained relatively stable over the past three years, showing little variation.
4 Please note that the raw materials included in the calculation are scrap, DRI/HBI, ferroalloys, carburiser, Reduced Briquettes, carbon injection material, lime dololime, and lump coke. The semi-finished products include billet.
