The Future of Materials Summit

• Materials used in the production process
• By-products recovered per tonne of waste generated
• Recycled materials in the production of crude steel casting

Organized by the British newspaper The Economist on November 13 & 14, 2017, the event aimed to analyze the ecosystem of new materials, from Research & Development to the supply chain through the applications. Various topics were discussed during these two days: the efficiency and sustainability of the ecosystem, the life cycle analysis, the role of materials but also the one of the government to trigger innovation, and eventually the influence of the new design and production methods on the industry.

Carl de Mare, Vice President Head of technology strategy at ArcelorMittal participated in the panel discussion on best practices related to the development of new materials. Debates were on the producers' responsibility for the life cycle of their products, from the extraction of raw materials to recycling via production and distribution. The assessment of the social and environmental impacts of materials as well as the government's incentive to promote the efficient use of materials were also at the heart of the interaction. Carl outlined how ArcelorMittal had used the 17 Sustainable Development Goals to develop our own framework of the 10 Sustainable Development Outcomes. He pointed out that steel is already extremely efficiently produced; and that we are looking at ways to use the waste from other industries to further increase our efficiency. He pointed out that the amount of steel needed to ensure the West lifestyle is approximatively 10 tonnes per person. Today, around 30 billion tons of steel are already in circulation within the global economy so this will need to double if we want to provide around 9 billion people with a similar lifestyle from recycled steel by 2050. He talked about a future where our carbon can make ethanol instead of being incinerated to generate power – which can be produced in a lower carbon way from renewable sources.

Olivier Vassart, Portfolio Leader for construction at ArcelorMittal Global R&D participated in the construction working group with Eurobeton and Arup. He reminded the audience that the steel industry has been integrating the circular economy for many years by using scrap in the production process, particularly in electric arc furnaces where steel is made of 99% recycled materials. The  potential of steel has mainly to be exploited during the design phase so that the products can be reused after dismantling buildings, like the reuse of sheet piles which can be rented by our customers. Pointing out the architect William McDonough's Cradle-to-Cradle ecodesign principle, he highlighted the key role architecture plays in the sustainability of buildings and steel and composite solutions. Arup has reminded customers and supply chain expectations in terms of cost, quality and sustainable development. The session was concluded with the emerging technologies such as carbon capture and utilisation (CCU)  to reduce the CO2 footprint of existing materials.