Cronimet spells out 2024 recycling rate

The Germany-based Cronimet Group, in its 2024 sustainability report released this week, says it constantly is working on innovations to increase the recycling rate and decrease the need for primary metals.

In the report, the stainless steel and specialty alloys recycling company provides details of that core activity and spells out corporate efforts to reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions within its operations.

Cronimet prepared the report in alignment with European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS), although the company says as of 2024, it is not bound to do so by European Union legislation as in place.

“By aligning our report with the ESRS standards, we see Cronimet as well prepared for future regulatory requirements,” Chief Information Officer Annette Gartner says. “For us, reporting is far more than a formal obligation—we view it as a strategic tool to develop our company sustainably and future proof.”

According to Cronimet, 97.3 percent of the 1.8 million tons of the material it shipped consisted of recycled metal grades. That material stream includes stainless steel, super and specialty alloys, ferroalloys, tungsten carbide, titanium, high-speed steel (HSS) and chrome-molybdenum-vanadium (CrMoV) steel.

Cronimet’s Revomet subsidiary is in the process of building a lithium-ion battery processing hub in Wolfen, Germany, with a planned capacity of 28,000 tons annually.

In addition to ESRS tie-ins, Cronimet says its 2024 emissions reduction tracking and activities have been validated by the London-based Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi).

Cronimet has a goal to achieve a 60 percent reduction in Scopes 1 and 2 emissions (using 2021 as a base year) and a 35 percent reduction in Scope 3 emissions (using 2023 as a base year 2023) by 2034.

By 2050, the company commits to achieving net-zero emissions across all scopes in accordance with SBTi.

“We are proud to have our net-zero targets validated by SBTi, because we all know how important rapid and deep emissions reductions are,” Cronimet CEO Jürgen Pilarsky says. “For us, investing in sustainability is investing in our future.”

Cronimet has global recycling and other metals sector operations staffed by more than 1,500 people and spanning 75 locations worldwide, including 10 in the United States.