The steel industry is an important engine for sustainable growth, added value, and high-quality employment within the European Union. It is committed to reducing its CO2 emissions due to production by up to 50% by 2030 compared to 1990′s level by developing and upscaling the technologies required to contribute to European initiatives, such as the Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP) and the European Green Deal (EGD). The Clean Steel Partnership (CSP, a public–private partnership), which is led by the European Steel Association (EUROFER) and the European Steel Technology Platform (ESTEP), defined technological CO2 mitigation pathways comprising carbon direct avoidance (CDA), smart carbon usage SCU), and a circular economy (CE). CE approaches ensure competitiveness through increased resource efficiency and sustainability and consist of different issues, such as the valorization of steelmaking residues (dusts, slags, sludge) for internal recycling in the steelmaking process, enhanced steel recycling (scrap use), the use of secondary carbon carriers from non-steel sectors as a reducing agent and energy source in the steelmaking process chain, and CE business models (supply chain analyses). The current paper gives an overview of different technological CE approaches as obtained in a dedicated workshop called “Resi4Future—Residue valorization in iron and steel industry: sustainable solutions for a cleaner and more competitive future Europe” that was organized by ESTEP to focus on future challenges toward the final goal of industrial deployment.

This review aims to show the significance of the use of secondary carbon bio-carriers for iron and steel production. The term ‘secondary carbon bio-carriers’ in this review paper refers to biomass, torrefied biomass, biochar, charcoal, or biocoke. The main focus is on torrefied biomass, which can act as a carbon source for partial or complete replacement of fossil fuel in various metallurgical processes. The material requirements for the use of secondary carbon bio-carriers in different metallurgical processes are systematized, and pathways for the use of secondary carbon bio-carriers in four main routes of steel production are described; namely, blast furnace/basic oxygen furnace (BF/BOF), melting of scrap in electric arc furnace (scrap/EAF), direct reduced iron/electric arc furnace (DRI/EAF), and smelting reduction/basic oxygen furnace (SR/BOF). In addition, there is also a focus on the use of secondary carbon bio-carriers in a submerged arc furnace (SAF) for ferroalloy production. The issue of using secondary carbon bio-carriers is specific and individual, depending on the chosen process. However, the most promising ways to use secondary carbon bio-carriers are determined in scrap/EAF, DRI/EAF, SR/BOF, and SAF. Finally, the main priority of future research is the establishment of optimal parameters, material quantities, and qualities for using secondary carbon bio-carriers in metallurgical processes.

The concepts of Circular Economy and Industrial Symbiosis are nowadays considered by policy makers a key for the sustainability of the whole European Industry. However, in the era of Industry4.0, this results into an extremely complex scenario requiring new business models and involve the whole value chain, and representing an opportunity as well. Moreover, in order to properly consider the environmental pillar of sustainability, the quality of available information represents a challenge in taking appropriate decisions, considering inhomogeneity of data sources, asynchronous nature of data sampling in terms of clock time and frequency, and different available volumes. In this sense, Big Data techniques and tools are fundamental in order to handle, analyze and process such heterogeneity, to provide a timely and meaningful data and information interpretation for making exploitation of Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence possible. Handling and fully exploiting the complexity of the current monitoring and automation systems calls for deep exploitation of advanced modelling and simulation techniques to define and develop proper Environmental Decision Support Systems. Such systems are expected to extensively support plant managers and operators in taking better, faster and more focused decisions for improving the environmental footprint of production processes, while preserving optimal product quality and smooth process operation. The paper describes a vision from the steel industry on the way in which the above concepts can be implemented in the steel sector through some application examples aimed at improving socio-economic and environmental sustainability of production cycles.

New management methods are trying to reproduce the performance dynamics of self-employed entrepreneurs among their ‘regular’ employees, leading them to become the driving force of a company’s production growth. In order to do this, they have to replace the system of command and control by a system of indirect control, which makes the autonomous free will of the individual employee instrumental to the company’s purpose. Works councils and trade unions are thereby confronted with an entirely new situation, the main thrust of which is to render ineffectual the conventional means of conflict with which they are inclined to react to its negative consequences. To cope with this challenge agreement must be reached on our understanding of autonomy and the changes it encounters, associated with the changes in forms of management itself.

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