Germany’s ROGESA Roheisen- und Rohstoffgesellschaft Saar mbH will invest in a new scrap processing pilot facility in Dillingen/Saar after receiving EUR 2.8 million in public funding. 

The project is designed to improve the quality of shredded scrap used in low-carbon steel production by reducing copper and other residual elements through material pretreatment, AI-based sorting, and X-ray analysis.

Scheduled to start operations in the second half of 2028, the facility is expected to lower various impurities in scrap, especially trace elements of free copper, by about 30%. It could also save up to 16 GWh of energy, cut annual CO2 emissions by 76,000 tons, and reduce the need for around 63,000 tons of DRI and primary raw materials. 

ROGESA, jointly owned by Aktiengesellschaft der Dillinger Hüttenwerke and Saarstahl Aktiengesellschaft, said the project will serve as an industrial-scale demonstration supported by Germany’s Environmental Innovation Program.