Thyssenkrupp Materials Services, Mantro launch steel recycling business

Thyssenkrupp Materials Services, a subsidiary of Germany-based Thyssenkrupp, has announced that it partnered with Germany-based Mantro to start a steel recycling joint venture.

The new joint venture, MT Industry Recycling GmbH, formed June 2. The company aims to achieve a more effective return of steel scrap to production processes of the manufacturing industry.

“Few raw materials in the world can be recycled as effectively as steel,” says Jan Crommelinck, managing director of MT Industry Recycling GmbH and lead new business model at Thyssenkrupp Materials Services. “Already today, almost half of the steel production comes from recycled steel scrap. In Germany alone, this corresponds to over 20 million tons of scrap every year. We are convinced that coordinating and processing them offers enormous innovation potential.”

Thyssenkrupp Materials Services says the new joint venture is based in the Ruhr area of Germany on the site of the former Zollverein coal mine in Essen, Germany. The joint venture currently consists of five team members, including Crommelinck as well as managing director Dirk Müller who is from mantro.

In the future, customers such as steel mills and foundries will be able to purchase pure steel scrap directly from mt industry recycling GmbH, Thyssenkrupp Materials Services reports in a news release on the joint venture. 

“The intermediate step via the scrap dealer is no longer necessary,” the company states. “Thanks to the streamlined process, customers will benefit from significantly lower costs and thus lower purchase prices. The purity of the material also enables them to melt down and reprocess the scrap without any loss of quality. In addition, efficient logistics processes promise to make a positive contribution to more sustainability in recycling processes.” 

A company spokesperson says it’s too early to say anything about the volume of scrap mt industry recycling will recycle. He adds that the joint venture is not aiming to process scrap but rather handle waste products of metal processing companies. 

“Material recycling is the last missing component after steel production, processing and trading, which we can now offer our customers with the joint venture,” Crommelinck says. “We consistently see ourselves as part of the complete recycling management system.”

With the new joint venture, Thyssenkrupp Materials Services states that it is expanding its service portfolio in line with its “materials as a service” strategy in order to intensify customer relationships and drive forward integration into customers’ supply chains. 

“Mantro is an experienced company builder,” a company spokesperson says. “As [Thyssenkrupp Materials Services], we bring the expertise and contacts in the industry with us, and mantro has the competence to quickly turn ideas into a working prototype. The first talks between Thyssenkrupp Materials Services and mantro began in September 2019, and three ideas were presented in February: The race was won by the steel recycling joint venture, which was launched at the beginning of June.”

The companies say the spinoff of the new business as a separate, independent GmbH should enable the development and growth of customer solutions quickly.