First ScanLoop train arrives in Salzgitter: Kooperation between VOLVO Cars and Salzgitter AG

Volvo Cars and Salzgitter AG expanded their long-standing cooperation last year and launched a closed loop partnership. Salzgitter Group already supplies the Volvo Cars body parts plant in Olofström in southern Sweden with high-quality flat steels and is now taking considerable quantities of the steel scrap produced at the Swedish plant and returning it directly to the production of Salzgitter Flachstahl GmbH. The project, which has been named ScanLoop, is an example of executing on circular economy to deliver business and sustainability benefits. Steel and Aluminium off-cuts from the stamping process are separated into different material streams and segregated. Then they are tightly compressed into cubes to reduce volume during transport.

Then, rather than an empty train returning back to Salzgitter, the train is filled with steel scrap that is melted down and processed into high-quality steel grades, so the material remains in the “closed loop” cycle. The first train with 25 scrap wagons and a length of 545marrived at Beddingen station last week.
 
Another key component of the concept is the consistent use of rail freight transport: By using the rail network we have been able to reduce the emissions significantly, highlighting the importance of high quality rail infrastructure around the EU in supporting circular developments. Despite the approximately 700-kilometre route between the two locations, which the train covered in just one and a half days, this creates an efficient and low-emission material cycle. This is also made possible by the use of powerful, interoperable locomotives that allow for a high towing load and the use of 100% carbon-neutral electricity for traction.
 
The ScanLoop with Volvo Cars is also an example of the cooperation between various subsidiaries in the Salzgitter Group: Sandrina Sieverdingbeck, Managing Director of DEUMU Deutsche Erz- und Metall-Union, says: "The cooperation is a clear confirmation of our circularity strategy. It shows how industrial partnerships can contribute to resource efficiency and the decarbonisation of the value chain. This closed loop is also further proof of the good cooperation between various Group companies such as Salzgitter Mannesmann Scandinavia, DEUMU, VPS Verkehrsbetriebe Peine-Salzgitter and Salzgitter Flachstahl."