Luxembourg railways (CFL) buys XCarb® recycled and renewably produced steel to support infrastructure decarbonisation

At the end of last year, ArcelorMittal Europe - Long Products’ plant in Rodange rolled its first XCarb^® recycled and renewably produced products, made from recycled steel using 100% renewable electricity in an Electric Arc Furnace. UPN300 beams made in Rodange have just been delivered to the GILBERT steel service centre in Ehlerange which, after cutting to length and galvanising, will in turn deliver them to the final customer, the Luxembourg railways, for use at Rodange’s railway station, just a stone's throw from the plant where they were made.


From Rodange to Ehlerange. The first XCarb^® recycled and renewably produced beams are unloaded at the GILBERT steel service centre in the presence of Alain Witry, agency manager, ArcelorMittal Sections and Merchant Bars, Daniel D'Antonio, head of iron and metals department at GILBERT and Henri Reding, CEO ArcelorMittal Rodange.

Low-CO2 profiles = low-carbon railway infrastructure

The UPN profiles from Rodange are part of a larger order: at the beginning of 2022, HEB and HEM beams of different dimensions were also produced in ArcelorMittal Belval and Differdange to complete the delivery.

These steels produced with very low CO₂ emissions will be used to support Luxembourg's railways as part of their drive to decarbonise their infrastructure.

Sustainable mobility is on the rise in Luxembourg, and decarbonised solutions are in the spotlight: since 2007, all CFL passenger trains have been running on renewable electricity and with zero CO₂ emissions. Decarbonising the infrastructure is a further step in CFL's environmentally-responsible approach.

Crédit photo : CFL

Stephan WEYER

Head of energy division, infrastructure engineering department, CFL

We are committed and have a responsibility to act sustainably in everything we do - from design to operations,

While the electricity used for the traction of our trains already comes from 100% renewable sources, it was also important for us, in the context of the Rodange station redevelopment project as well as other future projects, to implement climate-friendly installations, especially in the ‘energy’ subsystem. The amount of steel deployed in such projects is significant, representing approximately 150 tonnes of steel per kilometre in a station.

By opting for green steel for our catenary supports (by reducing the CO₂ emitted during their production by 80%), we are actively contributing to our company's sustainable development objectives and encouraging innovation. We are proud to learn that we are the first customer for XCarb^® recycled and renewably produced steel from the ArcelorMittal plant in Rodange and that the technology exists in our country to produce this steel. In addition, we are constantly looking for ways to reduce CO₂ emissions. We hope that this initiative will help raise awareness of the importance of green steel.

Daniel D'Antonio, head of iron and metals / sanitary departments at GILBERT, welcomes this first order in XCarb^® recycled and renewably produced:

"Offering our customers XCarb^® recycled and renewably produced allows us to position ourselves as a sustainable development player in Luxembourg. I am convinced that the circular economy is the economy of tomorrow. Steel has long been recognised for its recyclability and, when its production is itself decarbonised - with XCarb^® recycled and renewably produced for instance – it becomes the flagship material for green construction.

When I highlighted the advantages of XCarb^® recycled and renewably produced to the CFL, they were immediately interested, happy to benefit from a certified, decarbonised product for their infrastructure. The Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) of XCarb^® profiles was a determining factor in our discussions.

Picture: Daniel D'Antonio (left) and Henri Reding (right)

Henri Reding

CEO ArcelorMittal Rodange

This order is the first for XCarb^® recycled and renewably produced steel from Rodange, but in this CFL project, GILBERT has already mentioned other orders for this low CO₂-emission steel. Indeed, more and more customers, like GILBERT and CFL , are requesting goods and services that help them reduce their carbon footprint, driven either by their ambition to meet climate targets, or by their own customers who are conscious of their responsibility towards future generations. It is a source of great satisfaction for us when our customers choose our XCarb^® recycled and renewably produced and support our environmental initiative by involving their own stakeholders.

GILBERT, a long-standing partner

GILBERT steel service centre is a long-standing partner of ArcelorMittal in Luxembourg. For 125 years, the centre has been equipped with the most efficient work tools, to offer a wide range of services to their customers, from cut-to-length to surface treatments and galvanisation. In Ehlerange, where they have been located for the past 15 years, GILBERT offers a storage capacity of 12,000m² for more than 40,000 tonnes of steel products.

Towards carbon-neutral steel with XCarb™

The XCarb™ initiative, launched by ArcelorMittal in March 2021, brings together all of ArcelorMittal’s reduced-, low-, and zero-carbon products and steelmaking activities.
		To produce XCarb^® recycled and renewably produced steel, ArcelorMittal uses up to 100% scrap and renewable electricity coming from renewable sources such as solar and wind power. ArcelorMittal estimates that XCarb® recycled and renewably produced steel has a carbon footprint as low as 0.3 tonnes of CO₂ per tonne of steel product when the metallics are 100% scrap, which is certified by a published Environmental Product Declaration (EPD).
The ArcelorMittal’s XCarb^® initiatives also include XCarb^® green steel certificates which are specifically designed for ArcelorMittal’s steel products made from iron ore in a blast furnace. They are based on real CO₂ savings as well as wider initiatives which reduce ArcelorMittal’s carbon footprint. We can add up these important CO₂ savings and then pass them onto our customers in the form of a certificate, which has been verified by an independent auditor.