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How and why 'Green Steel' became one of Professor Veena Sahajwalla and the SMaRT Centre's best known science and technology innovations.

Overview

The concept of green manufacturing is something that we’ve developed at the SMaRT Centre at UNSW Australia. The whole idea is to think about materials being produced by using waste and end‐of‐life products as raw materials and the concept of green manufacturing as value-adding.

Originally in partnership with OneSteel, the SMaRT Centre developed a process to make green alloys, using end‐of‐life rubber tyres and waste plastic as an alternative to coking coal. Now working with industry partner Molycop, many millions of passenger vehicle tyres have been diverted from landfill in Australia, and the technology has now been commercialised here and overseas in countries including South Korea, Thailand, the UK and Norway. We have shown that the technology of polymer injection into steel making is successful on a commercial scale and that has huge beneficial outcomes for the manufacturing industry as a whole, while at the same time demonstrating the successful translation of research into industry.

At the SMaRT Centre, we take a holistic approach to manufacturing. Our aim is to take our research which is making real-world impact and to disseminate those ‘green social technologies’ to enhance sustainable economic growth – particularly in regional areas of Australia and developing nations internationally. When we define social or green products it’s coming out of the engineering and scientific principles.

Green Steel 2.0+ - next generation technology

We want to make products using waste that add value to the world and at the same time are safe and sustainable.

The SMaRT Centre is now carrying out new, next generation research into the technology by using waste bio-resources like coffee grounds, plastics and rubbers and their application in steel making.

This includes not just using more wastes with the aim of one day replacing the need for coke and coal in electric arc furnace (EAF) steel making, but using waste resources as a source of the vital steel making ingredient of hydrogen for an overall more efficient process requiring less energy.

Here is a March 2022 announcement in relation to three scientific papers revealing new Green Steel next gen breakthroughs.

Here is an October 2021 announcement in relation to new Green Steel next gen research and development work.

Here is 'Story 1' from February 2022 on new Green Steel next gen research and development work by Create Magazine.

Here is 'Story 2' from February 2022 on new Green Steel next gen research and development work by Create Magazine.

Latest Green Steel posts on this website

The below content tiles reference key highlights along the Green Steel journey.

Veena and tyres

Highlights