Scrap steel from Volvo’s factory in Olofström, in southern Sweden, is now travelling on freight trains to Salzgitter, in northern Germany. This initiative now completes a circle, as convoys were previously travelling back empty after bringing body parts to the Swedish car manufacturer.
The project, named ScanLoop follows last year’s agreement between Volvo and Salzgitter Group for the supply of car parts. “Steel and aluminum waste from the stamping process is separated and sorted into different material streams. It is then pressed into cubes to reduce transport volume”, Salzgitter said.
The first train consisted of 25 GATX wagons for a train length of 545 metres. The more than 700 kilometres separating Volvo’s factory in Olofström and Beddingen station is covered in one and a half days, the steel company underlined. From there, the scrap steel is taken to the Salzgitter Flachstahl plant where it can be transferred directly into the production processes.