The company defined the following goals, which it intends to achieve by 2030: reduction of Scope 1 and 2 CO₂ emissions by more than 50% compared to 2018 levels; generate power exclusively from renewable energies and from its own production; and expansion of its scrap recycling activities to more than 3 million tons a year.
 
According to a press release, a key component of the strategy is “accelerated decarbonization” via its SALCOS^® – SAlzgitter Low CO₂ -Steelmaking. As early as 2025, Salzgitter said, the company will begin to replace its blast furnaces with electric arc furnaces and direct reduction facilities. The company is planning to produce more than 1 million tons of green steel via this route by 2026.
 
“The market conditions in our core markets are changing very dynamically in the course of the sustainability debate and the goals set for CO₂ reduction,” said Gunnar Groebler, chief executive of Salzgitter AG. “We are actively addressing this change and realigning our company proactively to a circular economy. For the Salzgitter Group, circularity means keeping resources once sourced from nature for as long as possible in economic use, thereby minimizing the additional introduction of finite resources into the economic cycle.”
 
The company also announced this week that starting in 2026, it will supply low-CO₂ steel to all of BMW Group’s European plants.
 
“This is an important step in substantially reducing CO₂ emissions at source in the supplier network,” said Joachim Post, member of the board of management of BMW AG, purchasing and supplier network. “Our aim is to reduce vehicles’ life cycle carbon footprint with a holistic approach. With steel, in particular, we are leading the way by sourcing low-carbon steel for our plants in Europe in the future.”