Low carbon steel to be used in increasingly more home
appliances: BSH Hausgeräte GmbH and the Salzgitter Group
step up of their collaboration
/ With a 95 percent lower carbon footprint in production,
green steel supports the decarbonization strategy of both
companies
/ Use of recycled steel scrap makes a valuable contribution to
the objective of the circular economy
/ Green steel will soon be used in a variety of BSH’s large
home appliances
Salzgitter and Munich, January 16, 2023. Europe’s largest home appliance manufacturer,
BSH Hausgeräte GmbH, is continuing to drive forward the decarbonization of its value
chain using materials produced in a climate-friendly way. A Memorandum of Understanding
was signed with Salzgitter Flachstahl GmbH – a subsidiary of Salzgitter AG – to source
green steel from a new production route from 2025. The steel will be produced by means of
the new hydrogen-based production route SALCOS® (Salzgitter Low CO2 Steelmaking).
This means that carbon emissions in production will be reduced gradually by some 95
percent by 2033.
BSH has already been sourcing initial quantities of green steel from Salzgitter Flachstahl GmbH
since 2021 with a reduction in the carbon footprint of more than 66 percent. This steel is already
being used to produce mounting brackets for washing machines in the BSH plant in Lodz in
Poland.
The home appliances manufacturer is now taking the next major step to significantly reduce
carbon emissions in its value chain. BSH and Salzgitter Flachstahl GmbH signed a Memorandum
of Understanding on January 13, 2023 which provides for large volumes of green steel from 2025
for the European market with increases each year.
What is special about this green steel is the new production process that Salzgitter AG intends to
use. Together with partners from business and research, Salzgitter AG has laid the foundations The key elements are electricity from renewable sources and its use to produce
hydrogen by means of electrolysis. The green hydrogen produced will replace coal, which is still
being used at present in the conventional blast furnace process. This is made possible by direct
reduction (DR) plants, involving the direct reduction of iron ore into iron in the solid state using
hydrogen as a reducing agent. Using this technology, steam is emitted instead of carbon dioxide.
SALCOS® is thus following the carbon direct avoidance strategy to avoid the generation of carbon
in steel production as early as the production stage. Salzgitter AG therefore intends to reduce its
carbon emissions overall by 95 percent. Phillip Meiser, Sales Director at Salzgitter Flachstahl
GmbH: “We are looking forward to growing the collaboration with BSH in such a pioneering way.
The transformation toward a climate-neutral economy can only succeed as part of a network of
strong partners, who ensure that the market for carbon-reduced steel products continues to grow
steadily.”
BSH’s development and manufacturing at all its locations worldwide have already been carbon￾neutral since 2020. And the company has set itself a further sustainability target for 2030: “We
intend to reduce our indirect scope 3 carbon emissions resulting from the purchase of raw
materials and parts and through use of home appliances by a further 15 percent compared with
2018. On the one hand, we therefore always offer our consumers products that are especially
energy efficient. On the other hand, however, we also closely examine how to improve processes
over which we have no direct control – for example, the production of materials that we use for our
appliances,” says BSH Chief Operating Officer Lars Schubert. “I am therefore very pleased that we
are decisively driving forward the reduction in carbon emissions in our value chain together with
the Salzgitter Group.”
In addition to reducing carbon emissions, another positive effect of the new production process is
that an even higher percentage of steel scrap is used. “The recycling of materials and appliances
is an important future issue for BSH in order to avoid wasting resources and generating waste,”
explains Lars Schubert. “Our goal is to be ready for a circular economy.” The company therefore
also increasingly offers circular business models in which home appliances are leased or used
communally. The appliances are taken back following use, reconditioned for re-use, and recycled
in an environmentally sound manner at the end of the product life cycle. This is also in line with the
Group strategy of Salzgitter AG in terms of focusing on the circular economy